Animal Control: Breakout (IC)

[Raveled]

September 3rd, 2011

5:46 AM

Freedom City at dawn was a dazzling sight -- literally so, as the rising sun reflected off so many skyscrapers with walls of tinted windows. Brian Harris flew into the glare at an oblique angle, grateful for the mirrored sunglasses he'd bought when he started at Claremont. He didn't wear them as often as he'd first planned on way back when, but at times like these they were appreciated.

The teen cut through the air space of the city's suburban neighborhoods and set down in the parking lot of a compact building standing at the intersection of two major roads. He folded and stowed his glasses and glanced around, noting that the lot was almost empty; 'Nothing but Hole!' was, in his young opinion, the very best doughnut place in town and open twenty-four hours, but there always seemed to be a lull around dawn.

Brian strode into the shop like he owned the world, flashing an easy smile at the employees he could see bustling about behind the counter. It was his turn to buy breakfast for the Irregulars, and while Morgan and John usually favored healthy fare, Brian thought the day just wasn't the same if it didn't begin with something sugary.

The teen opened his mouth to begin his normal chit-chat with the woman on the register (toned down since he'd begun seeing Gwen, but not entirely abandoned) when he noticed a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye. The turned, already gathering energy, to see a large, boxy truck of the kind used to transport money to and from banks jump the curb and break the far wall of the restaurant, barreling towards him. At the last moment a plane of translucent red energy sprang up, angled towards the street. The truck hit the wall and left it cracked, but it was deflected away from Brian and the civilians. It smashed through the front wall and ended up on its side in the street, wheels spinning uselessly. Brian levitated a few feet in the air and peeked over the counter. Most of the employees were only now reacting, dropping pans or simply diving to the floor. "Sorry about the mess," he said to them. "Doctor Metropolis should be able to help you, though."

He touched his ring and his costume sprang out to surround him. "I'm going to check on the truck," he said, moving out to the street.

[Dr Archeville]

Overhead, a gleaming golden figure flew, also in search of morning foodstuffs for the people it referred to as friends.

Itinerary Review

Pick up shipment of fresh autumnal fruits and vegetables from harbor market.

Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Butter Lettuce, Butternut Squash, Cauliflower, Cranberries, Diakon Radishes, Endives, Garlic, Ginger, Grapes, Guava, Jalapeno Peppers, Key Limes, Kumquats, Mushrooms, Passion Fruit, Pears, Persimmons, Pineapples, Pomegranates, Pumpkin, Sweet Potatoes, Swiss Chard, Turnips

Prepare nutritious smoothies, salads, casseroles, and baked goods for Lab-Friends and Lab Visitors.

Assist Friend-Gossamer in preparation of-

ALERT: Traffic Incident in progress.

Primary Goal: Preserve as much organic life as possible.

Contacting Emergency Services to report incident...

The figure dipped down, landing behind the truck, and held both hands up and out. "Is anyone in need of medical assistance?," it asked the gathering crowd in its flat electronic voice.

[Avenger Assembled]

Overhead, the angel of Freedom swooped down, the morning sun making his halo flare to life briefly as he studied the situation. He had no particular innate distrust of machines, but he was still inclined to be cautious at the sight of the robot addressing the crowd. Not out of any lack of respect for the being's good soul, which glowed as brightly to Heyzel's eyes as the mechanical man's magnificent armored shell, but rather because a robot might not know what help a man needed any more than Heyzel himself would not understand how to fix a robot. "If any of you are injured," he called, "we can assist you!" Turning his head, he called to Glowstar, "Are there any injured in the van? What of its cargo?"

[KnightDisciple]

It was way earlier than Cobalt Templar was normally out and about. But he'd worked extra-hard in training yesterday, and then when he went home to what he thought was an empty house, his girlfriend was there. He was fast asleep before ten o'clock, but wide awake a bit before five. So he grabbed a quick shower, stuffed some extra cash in his wallet, and went out for a flight that had the dual purpose of clearing his head, and getting some breakfast for him and Quo-Dis to share. He'd been looking for a good doughnut shop that wasn't a big chain; the local flavor always seemed better than the brand-name stuff.

He'd spotted "Nothing but Hole" earlier, and had marked it in his mind while he checked a couple blocks around just to see if there was something else. Just as he was starting to circle around, he heard an odd series of sounds that he couldn't immediately place.

When he saw an angel and a shining robot descend on the location, he frowned and sped to the site himself, stopping just above it in a hover. He surveyed the crash with a frown, before turning to Glowstar and nodding.

"Glowstar. Good work here; looks like no one inside was hurt. Did you see what made this happen?"

He cast his eyes about, trying to see if there was a major pothole or something. As he looked around, he nodded to Freedom Angel and Protectron.

"Gentlemen. Name's Cobalt Templar."

[Raveled]

Glowstar felt like he'd walked into an impromptu convention. A big golden robot, someone with a halo and freaking angel wings, and Cobalt Templar were all on the scene, not to mention the usual gaggle of civilians standing around and watching (less than normal because of the hour, but there were still a fair number).

The junior Claremonter felt his chest swell with Cobalt Templar's words of approval. "Well," he said, "I deflected it from hitting the civvies inside. I think physics took over from that point. If you mean 'why was an armored truck smashing through the wall,' I don't know. I haven't have a chance to peek inside y--"

The hero was cut off when one of the rear doors, a slab of steel at least six inches think, tore off the truck and landed a good foot away. A huge, hulking figure with dark gray skin and enormous, hanging ears shouldered the remaining door out of the way and stood up outside. A prehensile trunk hung off his face and an ill-fitting set of black fatigues was draped around his body. He squinted in the bright daylight and said, "Toldja you couldn't drive that." The elephant-man moved away from the door, apparently unaware of the heroes surrounding him. "We should've grabbed one of the guards and made him drive us out."

"All the guards were robots," a prim voice from inside the truck responded. A moment later a black-furred gorilla in a loose gray uniform walked (and knuckled) out of the truck. "We would've lost more time in reprogramming him than... oh my." The ape scanned the assembled heroes. "This... wasn't in the plan."

"What wasn't?" A scrawny head covered in coarse brown fur appeared in the back of the truck, and a moment later a chimpanzee in another set of fatigues crawled out and perched on top of the truck. "Oh man, oh man. Who are these guys!?"

The last figure out of the truck was the most bizarre. Vaguely human, it was covered in black chitinous growths, with several red eyes crowded onto its head. "Does it matter," the spider-person asked. "They have to be working for Section 13! Let's get out of here!"

"Right," the gorilla said, nodding sharply. "Meet at the rendezvous!" With that the party of hybrids exploded, each taking a different direction; the gorilla loped off to the west, the spider-thing zipped a line and swung south, the chimp scrambled up a nearby building and raced to the east, and the elephant man charged north -- straight at Protectron!

[Dr Archeville]

Tactical Alert: Man-Elephant approaching at 50 miles per hour. Predict subject will attempt to simply run over me.

TRACKING...

TRACKING...

TRACKING...

EXECUTE MANEUVER IN 3.0000... 2.0000... 1.0000...

Protectron crouched slightly and swept one leg at the charging figure. While the maneuver was carried out with some technical skill, the strange robot's strength, superhuman though it was, paled in comparison to the charging beast-man; it barely stumbled.

Tactical Alert: Maneuver failed, Man-Elephant continues unimpeded.

Observation: I will be unable to preserve organic life if I am crushed beyond repair.

Activating Cranial Unit Escape Mode.

Microseconds before the Elephant Man connected with the golden guardian, its head popped off and hovered a few inches above its shoulders on tiny neck-jets!

[Raveled]

"Right! Rendezvous! Means run away!" The spider-creature leapt twenty feet into the air from a standing position and fired a stream of sticky, ropey webbing at the nearest building. As it came down physics took over and the creature swung away; it repeated the process a few more times in just a couple of seconds, building up a fair turn of speed.

The elephant either didn't hear or couldn't turn his bulk away from the charge. In any case he slammed all of his mass into Protectron's abandoned body, only to find it much stockier than he was prepared for. The huge man-animal bounced off the golden robot and stumbled back several steps.

Glowstar decided to let the other heroes take care of the truck and sped after the spider. He reached out and closed his hands, and red, semi-transparent fingers formed out of mid-air to grab the creature at the apex of a swing. It struggled, but it was too well pinned to escape so easily.

[KnightDisciple]

Cobalt Templar tilted his head to one side in honest confusion as four animal-human hybrid beings stepped out of the truck. He frowned a bit as he heard their talk, but other than the elephant man, none of them seemed over hostile.

'What the heck is Section 13? Wait, no time to worry about that. Think I'll take the gorilla; I need the workout.'

With that, he dove like a comet through the air, arms splayed wide. When he reached the gorilla, his arms all but slammed shut, like the jaws on a vice. He tried to hold the odd man in place, a frown on his face.

"How about we don't go running off, and instead we settle down? And for what it's worth, I don't know about Section 13. I'm with Young Freedom. Maybe chill out and we can sit down with your buddies or something? I don't want to hurt you guys!"

The fact he'd chosen to go with a less-harmful method of attack gave the claim at least some credence.

[Raveled]

GM

The gorilla's beefy arms were pinned by the experienced Claremonter, bands of blue energy flaring as the two wrestled. "So you say," the gorilla rumbled. "But we don't have any way to know. So if you'll just let me go we--"

The heroes never got a chance to find out what the animal-men would have done. The chimp leapt from the top of the truck to the top of Cobalt Templar's head. "Let go of him," he shouted, smacking the blue-armored hero around his head and shoulders. "Get away from him," the smaller monkey shrieked. "Get off of him, you brute!"

The gorilla heaved suddenly, taking advantage of the distraction provided by his smaller ally. "I'm free! It worked, Three! Now let's get out of here!"

[Avenger Assembled]

Freedom Angel landed between the simians and their means of escape, with his glossy black wings spreading behind him and his halo glowing, he was the very image of every angel of legend. "Sons of the sixth day," he said with divine firmness, "hearken to my words. We are not allies of your tormentors; rather, we are champions of freedom and justice. If thee have been made slaves, we will overcome those who sought to be thy masters. If thee have been kept in chains, we shall free you as you have already freed yourselves. But if you flee from us," he added sternly, "then you go into a world of sin, where your enemies may yet find you." He extended an open hand to the jittery chimpanzee. "The good man says, 'As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. Take my hand, my friend."

[Dr Archeville]

Protectron's head hovered above its body, which still stood before the temporarily-halted man-elephant.

Replaying last 10.0 seconds of memory....

Observation: Man-Spider fears we are working for 'Section 13'

Cross-referencing name...

"Section 13," the hovering head flatly intoned, "a part of the Office of Strategic Services. Directive: coordinate the actions of the various superpowered organics the Allies had access to, particularly those unaffiliated with either the Liberty League or the Allies of Freedom. Records indicate Section 13 was closed down along with the OSS after the end of World War II, but rumors persist that members of the organization went on to high positions in the OSS's superseding agency, the Central Intelligence Agency."

The head tilted slightly down to better face the man-elephant, "we are not members of Section 13. I am Protectron -- my primary directive is to preserve as much organic life as possible. What is your name?"

[Raveled]

GM

Freedom Angel's words had the desired effect, calming the hybrid men down. The chimp jumped off Cobalt Templar's head and down to the pavement, putting himself between the armored hero and the gorilla. With a glance at the group, Glowstar snapped his energy bubble off and dropped the arachnid onto the truck, who quickly scuttled to put the elephant between itself and the majority of the group.

"We have no names," the gorilla said, glancing over his companions. "The scientists that created us merely gave us numbers. I am One, my smaller companion is Three, the fellow on the truck is Six --"

"Oh, come off it, Professor," the elephant grumbled. He was clearly smarting from running headfirst into Protectron's body, but whatever animosity he might have felt had evaporated at the angel's pronouncement. "I'm Bruiser. The talker is the Professor. The guy who doesn't know when to stop is Screech. And the scaredy-spider is Squirt."

"I wasn't scared," Squirt protested. "The Professor said to run, I ran!"

"And look where that got you," Bruiser rumbled.

The Professor held up one meaty arm, cutting off any further arguments. "If you really want to help us, not all of us were able to get free of a laboratory where we were created -- and while we despaired of ever getting a chance to rescue them, with your help we might have a chance."

[Avenger Assembled]

"Are you animals changed to men?" he asked, "or men changed by other men?" Freedom Angel thought about calling on his colleagues in the Freedom League for backup, but rejected the idea: he still felt guilty over his temporary departure from their organization, and desired not to call on them unless it was an emergency. "Yes, let us go to your place of origin and see what we might see," said the angel seriously. "We are here as champions of justice and right for all sentient beings, wherever they come from." The words were a little corny, but the angel obviously believed every word of them. "Come, my friends," he said with a look at Protectron, Glowstar, and Cobalt Templar, unhesitatingly including all three heroes in his zone of trust. "Let us go. Lead the way," he said to the animals, trusting that whichever was the wisest and most observant (most likely the Professor) would steer them the right way.

[KnightDisciple]

Cobalt Templar wasn't really hurt by the chimp-man's attacks, but he still worked to get him off his shoulders.

"Ack! Dang it, get off!"

Of course, right about that time, everyone seemed to stop fighting. CT was wary for a few moments, before he too stood down, crossing his arms over his chest, nodding as Freedom Angel spoke.

"He's right. I wasn't aiming to toss you in a cage. It's just that things got a bit...hectic...for a second there."

He scratched his chin in thought as Protectron recited history.

"He's right. Except, some part of it seemingly didn't shut down. And seems to have "branched out". Which has all manner of bad implications."

When Bruiser spoke up, he gave each of them a small smile and a nod.

"Nice to meet you all, gentlemen. Name's Cobalt Templar."

At the mention of other sentient beings being locked up, his face turned into a scowl.

"Yeah. We'll see what we see. Which will probably end up being several folks we have to beat down until we release the others."

If and when the animal-men started leading the way, CT would follow, taking to the air to give at least a measure of over-watch.

[Raveled]

"We were simple beasts, uplifted to the intelligence of men," the Professor told the angel. "At least, that is what our captors told us. We have no memory of being anything less than what we are."

After a little time lost sorting out travel arrangements (none of the animal-hybrids could move very fast and Glowstar insisted on carrying them in an energy bubble; after a short discussion, they compromised by riding on an open platform maintained by the Claremont hero. Following the Professor's advice the heroes zeroed in on a particular warehouse on the Waterfront, near where a freighter was being loaded with shipping containers. It didn't look out of place in its surroundings; a long, low building with a roof of corrugated steel and cider block walls. It had probably been intended as a temporary construction, but that had been at least three decades ago; now it was as permanent a feature as the waves and the ships themselves. The only unusual feature was that it backed directly onto the water, and in fact had a staircase out the back leading to a wooden jetty.

The heroes convened on a rooftop opposite the warehouse. Glowstar gave it a good, long look, but the windows were covered over the bug impacts, bird droppings, and general pollution of decades. He shrugged and turned to the rest of the group. "So how should we handle it," he asked, willing to abdicate the decision to the older, more experienced heroes. "Knock on the door? Tunnel underneath? Or rip the roof off?"

The hybrids clustered a little ways off from the heroes, watching the warehouse with trepidation. "Something isn't right," Squirt said. "There were guards here. Where are the guards?"

[Dr Archeville]

Query: Is radical alteration of organic lifeforms, such as anthropomorphisation/'Uplifting'

Cross-reference: Brin, David

of non-sapient animals, beneficial?
Observation/Initial Conclusion: If doing so denies the organics their rights of choice and freedoms as enjoyed by other Homo sapiens, then it is slavery, and is to be avoided/opposed.

Shall debate broader issue with Lab-Friends at later date.

"Are you certain this is where you were held?," the recapitated robot asked. "Freedom is a large city, with many twisting roads, and it would be easy for an organic being to get lost in its streets." While awaiting an answer, Protectron studied the building intently.

Visual scan... zooming in....

Switching to Infrared mode.
Switching to Ultraviolet mode.

Auditory scan...

Scanning ultrasonic range...
Scanning subsonic range...

Monitoring radio chatter...

[Avenger Assembled]

Confronted with the enemy stronghold, Freedom Angel proceeded to handle this as he would any other encounter with a den of the unrighteous. He'd heard the truth in the words of the beast-men and had no hesitation about the just path. He flew up to the front door and pounded on it, bearing in his other hand the flaming sword of ultimate truth. "Sinners!" he boomed, his halo glowing with particular divine light here when he considered the torments these animal-men must have endured at the hands of their scientific torturers. "The hour of your judgement has come! Step forth and answer for your crimes before the courts of justice!"

[KnightDisciple]

"Maybe the guards are inside prepping everything to move? If you guys busted out, they may be moving the oper-"

And then Freedom Angel all but busted down the door. Cobalt Templar blinked, then shrugged. A slight grin was on his face as he floated into the air, slowly moving to the door Freedom Angel was assaulting.

"You know what, I like the cut of his jib. I'll go help him bust in the front door. You guys coming with, or are you going to watch the sides?"

[Raveled]

GM

Glowstar and the hybrids jumped and swung down to street-level, joining Freedom Angel and Cobalt Templar in busting through the doors of the warehouse. Beyond that they found... Nothing. Row upon row of empty stacks and unlit offices, with nary a box or cargo pallet in sight. The hybrids were stunned, Bruiser and Screech racing down to the dockside doors while Squirt went high and checked the rafters. "There's nothing here," Bruiser exclaimed. "I don't get it. We just escaped a few hours ago!"

For his part, the Professor crouched low and swept one massive finger along the floor, repeating the process along several of the metal shelving units that stood in the middle of the space. "No dust either," he said. "No trash, and the doors opened easily. There's nothing here -- but I'll bet there was something here not too long ago!"

From his vantage point Protectron scanned the warehouse, and when that was a bust he extended his range, scanning outwards in a carefully programmed pattern. He noticed several forklifts parked near the loading area for a cargo freighter; while the machines were empty, their engines were still radiating heat. On a whim he zoomed in on one of the workers overseeing the loading process, and soon a suspicious bulge at his belt resolved itself into a large pistol! What was an ordinary dockworker -- several of them, in fact -- doing with such a weapon?

[Dr Archeville]

Observation: atypically armed dock workers may pose threat to associated organic and cyborg superheroes.

Conclusion: Must warn allies.

Activating internal comms...

Protectron beamed a radio message to where it believed the heroes were inside the warehouse.

~Warning, allied organic superheroes: all the workers on the dock at the rear of the warehouse are all armed with an assortment of handguns. Additionally, residual heat signatures on forklifts and other equipment indicate a large amount of material was recently moved out of the facility. If this is where the organic hybrids escaped from, it appears the workers are attempting to cover it up.~

It never occurred to Protectron that they might not have a way to receive its transmission.

Its warning sent, Protectron activated its boot jets and zipped down towards the dock.

Tactical Analysis: Approach from behind, capture dock workers in 'pincer attack' with Caradoc and others.

[KnightDisciple]

Cobalt Templar frowned and floated a short distance into the air, before casting his gaze all around. He nodded as the Professor spoke.

"You're right. It's too clean and empty. Which makes me worried. These guys know what they're doing, outside of the horrifically unethical experiments. Hey, Protectron, could you maybe-"

He turned toward the door, and realized Protectron wasn't there. He flew to the doorway itself and looked around.

"Where the blazes did he get off to?"

[Avenger Assembled]

Freedom Angel was as surprised as the others when Protectron flew away, but he was quick on his feet, as most men who cold fly were. "Perhaps his robotic senses detected something amiss," replied Freedom Angel, beating his wings as he took to the air. "He hasn't gone far, just behind the building!" Once in the air, Heyzel made a beeline after Protectron, focusing in on the robot's targets within moments. "Hold, sinners!" he called from the air, flaming sword pointed at the gunmen below. "You carry no weapons forged by honest men! What have you done in this place?"

[Raveled]

As the golden robot and the angel of Freedom swooped down on them, the dockworkers responded with commendable speed. Several of them threw themselves behind crates, forklifts, or other handy pieces of cover; the remaining drew weapons and opened fire on the flying heroes. Aboard the freighter, several heads popped over the railing to see what the fuss was. A few moments later they disappeared again, and before long the heroes could see the anchor chains being wound up into the hull. Before they were even fully retracted, the ship let loose with a blast from its horn and began pulling away from the docks.

Glowstar fled the warehouse when the ship's horn shook the air. He glanced between the suspiciously well-coordinated dockworkers and the ship, and made his decision in an instant. A red glow surrounded him again as he took two steps and vaulted through the air, coming to rest on the deck of the ship.

[KnightDisciple]

Cobalt Templar surveyed the situation. Freedom Angel and Protectron seemed like they could handle themselves in a fight. Against some thugs with guns, he wasn't too worried. Worst case, Bruiser and his crew could back them up. But Glowstar was moving in alone; despite being on the Irregulars, not Young Freedom, CT couldn't help but feel a sense of responsibility for the junior. He turned to Bruiser's group.

"The robot and the angel should have things in hand. Stay sharp, might be some guys trying to flank us. I'm going to help out Glowstar.

And then he burned through the air, slamming onto the ship's deck moments later at Glowstar's back. The hero in blue armor was in a slight crouch, which brought him to Glowstar's height even as the paint below his feet sizzled just a bit.

"Figured you could use some backup. How do you want to handle this one?"

[Raveled]

The animal hybrids charged out of the warehouse in the heroes' wake. The elephant and the monkey followed Protectron and Freedom Angel onto the pier and barreling into the gun-wielding dockworkers. Meanwhile, the Professor and Squirt scrambled up the side of the ship, finding purchase between hull plates, on rivets and welds, and anchor chains. On the deck, Glowstar glanced around as Cobalt Templar landed next to him and nodded, once. "I'm going to stop this ship," he said. "See if you can't find a manifest or something that'll tell us what's in these crates."

The bridge wasn't hard to find, being simply the tallest structure on the vessel. Glowstar exploded through the front window, charged with ruddy energy. He moved his hands, covering the startled crewmembers at their stations. "Whoever's the captain here," he said in an authoritative voice, "stop this ship. Right now!"

A sudden motion out of the corner of his eye made him turn, but he was too late to stop one of the crewmembers, a short blonde woman in a long coat, from swinging the barrel of a preposterously large weapon at him. "Sorry, boy-o," the woman said, grinning. "The Director says this shipment goes through." The gun spat, filling his world with light and sound, and he was blasted out of the bridge, landing back on the deck.

As Cobalt Templar pondered where to find a manifest, a mousy-haired woman in paramilitary gear stepped out from between the stacked crates. "Hello, big boy," she said, holding her hands out to her sides. The woman snapped her fingers and in moments her body was covered in flickering red flames. "Let's see if I can't light your world on fire!"