Two's Company, Four's a Party(IC)

[Vahnyu]

As soon as he found what he was looking for, Net Fly surveyed the area around him. He didn't notice anyone actively observing him, but he did spot a couple of surveilance cameras that would cut him a lot of time, if he had to work for long. Moving silently, and keeping out of the cameras' watchful electronic eyes, Net Fly connects to their programming and alters their surveilance route, so that he can work without rasing an alarm. It will certainly buy me some time, at the very least. Now, to access the network.

With lithe and focused movements, Net Fly silently approaches the network access point, and inspects it, trying to figure out patterns or anything else about this piece of technology that could help him control it. Unfortunately, he couldn't make heads or tails out of this seemingly alien device. I'll have to just bypass the controls alltogether, and link my mind directly to the device.

Linking with the device was the easy part, he noted. Bypassing it's security so that he could assume direct control of the ship's networks? Next to impossible. Wow. This thing here uses some heavily encrypted protection. I don't think I've ever seen before anything close to what's in here, even if it's a remote access point... And if you consider once again that the data has been uploaded from the simulator... No, stay focused. If I can't link from here, maybe there is someplace else were I could try. I'd better see if I can download the schematics of the ship...

Once more, he was met with failure. Ok, this is ridiculous. The commands are too alien and counterintuitive for me to even pretend I understand how to use them. Breaking contact with the device, Net Fly stood up, as he clenched his fists. I really wish there was another way to resolve this thing, but I'm affraid I'll have to take a more direct approach. he thought, emphasising the 'direct approach' part by pounding his right fist into his left palm, and then cracking it's knuckles.

[Ari]

GM

Glow:

"My powers aren't much good in a fight" Lucy admitted sheepishly, suddenly vanishing, though her voice came from the same spot "and the thermal cameras they have can see me even if the monitors can't. So, because they never need to open the door more than that slot in the door" she pointed at the aperture in question "they never figured they'd need to keep me from using them" she looked in admiration as Kristin as the other student nimbly got her 'cuffed arms out from behind her back.

At the declaration of their immediate attempt at escape, her admiration visibly deepened "Uh..I don't really know how we would" she still had to admit "That ventilation shaft would be hard to get through, it's really narrow, and moving around inside is it pretty freakin' loud. If you know how to do it, or know a better way to escape, I'm all for it"

Arcturus:

"Of course I could intimidate without killing his soldiers" Waker replied blandly "But I think the dramatic effect of his fleet and army being destroyed by a storm unforeseen and by a monster carried aloft by wings that disturb the clouds at the apex and creates whirlpools ten miles across at their nadir, would be very persuasive messages about how serious I am about this" he nodded fervently at Marcus' comment about the captive's power "I'm not entirely sure even I could rein him in before he did great harm to the island. I hope to avoid finding out. The artifact in argument is an armband called the Circle of Salt, it prevents the dead touched by its wearer from being raised to life and was made during a troublesome war against a necromancer alongside the Demons, I want to try and make more, to prevent us from being hamstrung in case it happens again" he rolled his eyes "But my brother assumes I wish to destroy it or some other foolish act, and refuses me that. I haven't any idea why he would think that, I only called upon a departed soul once! To find his lost crown(it had fallen into a sea serpent's mouth, who could have guessed?). Anyway, I can't see much any way of resolving this without force. If I relent now, won't he just assume I'm too weak to stand up to him? He doesn't know what I can REALLY do, you see, thinks I'm just some conjuror of cheap tricks"

Net Fly:

The robots(and the ship) appeared quite unaware of his attempt at sabotage, and the rhythmical thrum and gentle drone of the ship continued as it had before. 'The calm before the storm' would have been an accurate(if rather cliche) phrase at that point of his simulation.

[GranspearZX]

Arcturus's brow furrowed. It wasn't exactly the first time he'd heard of necromancy being used for benign purposes--he did, after all, know Nick. Still, the idea made his fur crawl a little bit, and the only thing he disliked more than the undead were psychics. Still, the artifact didn't sound too difficult to make given enough time. It seemed a little wrong, the idea of actually making a forgery, but given the cause...

"What if I told you that I could create a replica of this Circle of Salt thing? I don't mean some cheap imitation either."

Arcturus smiled faintly; there was another idea coming together as well. "...and what exactly would you need to make a claim to the throne, anyway?"

[Vahnyu]

So... No one's alerted yet, huh. Good. Let's keep it that way. Peering over his shoulders, Net Fly took the map he was handed from one of the Robots, and examined the layout. I couldn't download the more detailed schematics so... this will have to do. Let's see, now... I'm here... The Main Computer is to the North... probably heavily guarded. I could take them all on, for sure, but... hmmm, to the South lie the Comm Systems. I could definitely play some havoc there... If I could tell my left from my right with these alien techs... that leaves...

As his eyes trailed, Net Fly put his fingers on an area in the map. There! The Sensors Array Controls. If I take them out, I will be able to sneak around this place, with little problem. According to the map, they are East of my current position. It's not far, but still, better be careful. Putting away the map, Net Fly croutched slightly, and proceeded with caution down the corridors, heading for the Sensors, while trying to keep an eye out for anything weird.

[Ari]

GM

Arcturus:

"If you could do such a thing, I would be in your debt for at least twelve favors, the undead are a monstrous foe, prohibitively hard to destroy" declared Waker, now much more at his, for all that he still spoke softly "And I already have a claim to one of the thrones, I just need the agreement of at least a few of my brothers to let me in the door of the council room, and I haven't..kept on the best of terms with them"he admitted sheepishly "We tend to, er..fight a great deal, whenever we do meet."

Net Fly:

The internal motion detectors, thermal trackers, and even the basic visible light-spectrum cameras failed to detect the young hero as the grey-suited youth slid noiselessly and unseen through the ship. A few robots passed on business of their own, but their eyes failed to catch the various signs of the organic's presence nearvy, and their softly clinking feet carried them past with neat, regular strides that never broke.

[Scuffles]

"Alright, pass me that spork will you?" Kristin said as she dropped into a sitting position on the floor of the cell. With her legs folded comfortably underneath her she closed her eyes and leaned back. As she wedged the handle of the spork into the joint of the cuffs in an attempt to loosen and weaken them she asked "You're not the only prisoner right? Who's in the next cell over?"

After a few minutes a quiet "click" sounded from inside the cuffs, and Kristin opened her eyes. She flexed her arms again, finding a little more give in the cuffs. "Nice, that's a start!" she said with a wink at Lucy, then stood and moved over to the wall of the cell. Carefully she wedged the loose bit of metal into the cuffs and leaned back, using her body weight to pull and stretch on them. The cuffs proved pretty resilient, but after some straining and effort Kristin planted her feet against the wall and pushed. Her reward was a slight warping of the cuffs. And a tumble onto her back as the piece of metal finally tore off the wall.

"Ow!" Kristin groaned, then sat up. "Alright, let's see..." she continued, then inspected the cut on her leg again. The bleeding had slowed but not stopped completely, so she wiped some of the blood onto her arms. The slickness helped as she started to wriggle her arms out of the cuffs, but even so it took several minutes before she managed to slip a hand free. With a triumphant expression the young telekinetic freed her other hand then stood. "Alright, now let's see about getting out of here.."

[Ari]

GM

Glow:

"A guy named Frank, he can make force-field things around himself, not really very good with them yet" Lucy looked more than a little awkward as she admitted "Neither of us were really prepared for what was down here, we just thought it was an abandoned base, maybe even an old hero's lair, we didn't expect to find OVERTHROW in here!" she was silent for the rest of the other Claremonter's efforts, staring in no little awe at Glow's resourcefulness. As the cuffs finally dropped tot he floor, she let out a whoop of excitement that was quickly stifled. "Sorry" she whispered, "I'll keep a lookout. I'm pretty sure there's an alarm on the door though, so be careful about trying to bust it off, which I'm sure you can do!" she added with an enthusiasm born of the newly hopeful situation.

Net Fly:

The Sensor Room was almost too obviously Star Trek-inspired. A molded, curvy white room blinking and pulsing with the many-monitered computers lining the walls, the twelve hurrying robots that bustled about the tiers of monitoring equipment surrounding a clear tube filled with some green liquid, and the peaceful atmosphere and ambiance that somehow survived the hostile territory.

On the level he was on, Net Fly could see three routes to the computers that would let him pass the working robots unseen: a small maintenance tunnel that was clearly marked and let vertically and horizontally to nearly every computer in the Sensor Array, a roving platform carrying tool cases in or under which he could hide with ease, and a small elevator that could carry him to the top floor of the Array, where no robots could be seen.

Each had evident disadvantages, of course.

[GranspearZX]

Arcturus stood upright and began looking around. "...so explain to me EXACTLY what this artifact does."

As Waker explained, Arcturus started building. At first, he kept it entirely theoretical and in his head, imagining the design in his head. It was an odd object; he had never created a magical artifact that wasn't something truly solid. That certainly wasn't to say that he didn't know how to work with cloth, of course, but he felt that it warranted being a little more careful. What felt like hours passed as he scoured book after book, reading and rereading until his eyes felt heavy. Perhaps the strangest thing through it all was, despite holding his bear form during the entire thing, he never considered changing back, and the Beast rune was dead quiet in his mind while it was occupied with incantations and formulae.

He wasn't sure how to solve Waker's other problem. This one would go a long way in gaining the prince his freedom; it was abundantly clear that simply leaving the tower would only be putting him in harm's way. There had to be some way that he could help with that, but he had to admit that all the finery and finesse of royalty was often lost on him...

[Scuffles]

Kristin inspected the wiring on the door alarm, shrugged, then ripped the whole thing off the wall with a telekinetic jolt. When no alarms sounded and no guards came running she glanced at Lucy. "Okay, I'm going to rip the door off now, then we'll grab Frank and I'll escort you both to the exit alright? If anyone tries to stop us you just disappear and go, I'll deal with it."

The telekinetic trainee folded her arms across her chest and regarded the door of the cell, green light gathering around the edges as she began to exert her power against it. Metal squealed as the hinges gave way, then with a sudden jolt the door tore free.

Kristin set the door aside as carefully as possible, then ducked out of the cell to check the door to the cell holding the other student. "Hey Frank, had enough of this place yet?" she asked cheerfully as she dealt with the alarm system and then ripped the second door open. "Exit's this way, come on. And remember, any trouble comes up you leave it to me!"

[Ari]

GM

Arcturus:

At last, the copying was complete! The Circle of Salt turned out to be a thin bronze band, wrapped around with a thin series of iron wires, with a spell laid on each that repelled all spirits from the body when used in conjunction. Waker inspected Marcus' work with a critical eye, peering over each detail individually before stopping, leaning away from the workbench, and clapping the runemaker on the back with a smile as broad and bright as a sunrise. "Great work, young man!" he said, only just managing to keep his voice down out of earshot of the captive "All I'll need to do is get some golems to work on making more copies like you did, and never again will we need feat the living dead!" he suddenly became much graver "Now, is there anything I may do for you? I am sorry for my earlier actions and words, and will gladly repent of them in whatever manner you see fit."

Glow:

Lucy nodded excitedly, flickering experimentally in and out of vision before regaining solidity.

Frank turned out to be a wiry boy with look of constant bewilderment and vague alarm. He let out a stifled whimper of fear when his door was torn off its hinges by Kristin's telekinetic assault, only regaining composure after she'd spoken to him and he realized precisely what was going on. He didn't give nearly as much positive feedback, but he did whisper "O.K." and hurried to Lucy's side, activating a translucent and colorless shield around the trio as they hurried for the exit.

The place seemed a lot smaller to Glow now that she'd seen its layout, and had a rough idea of where was where. It took barely any time at all before she was abruptly halted by three robots stalking into view. Lucy gasped and turned invisible in a heartbeat, while Frank became as pale as death, his shield seeming to waver slightly before the metal sentinels that had just appeared.

[Scuffles]

Kristin broke into a run as the three escapees were confronted with OVERTHROW robots. "Stay back, I'll deal with them!" she called out to the other two youngsters, her telekinetic barrier snapping into place around her as she dashed forwards in a blaze of green light.

Damn those are big guns!

Well aware that her new friends probably weren't up to taking blasts from the robots she lunged in close behind a wave of telekinetic force. One of the robots succumbed to the assault and toppled backwards but the other two were barely buffeted. Kristin could do little but cringe behind her barrier as they tracked her with their oversized weapons.

[GranspearZX]

"I don't suppose letting the prince go home is an option?" Arcturus grinned faintly. "I mean... if it's his magic you're worried about, you could always take them from him, right?"

It was a theoretical suggestion; Arc really didn't know the true nature of the prince's magic. After all, his own power was unique and inherent, and yet there were ways the Beast rune could be contained and even subjugated--even though those options had plenty of dangers on their own. He wasn't sure of Waker was even capable of doing it... or if he was simply afraid to try. If the prince was as powerful as the thought, Arcturus could certainly see the latter.

[Ari]

GM

Glow:

With a roar that was nearly deafening in the narrow confines of the base corridor, the two robots fired. Their salvos seemed to be actual artillery shells, which carried both a kinetic punch that breached the shield, and also an explosive charge that could be felt even through the shield. Thankfully, they didn't do as much damage as they might have, leaving dark bruises on her arms and torso rather than gashes and horrible wounds, but it was painful nonetheless.

Lucy and Frank were both speechless with fear, staring at their protector desperately, Frank looking misserably at his own shield.

Arcturus:

"i could do that, but..." Waker shook his head "I've dug myself in a little deep. As you might imagine, I was trying to make the prince my disciple for quite some time now, his heritage would do a great deal to help my case at the Chamber." The magician rolled his eyes "But he is a prince, after all, and is used to being master of his own mind. it got to the point where i was teaching him ways to power just to keep him around, and now I fear I've made a monster that I dare not cross." he frowned, stroking his large beard, staring alternately at the ceiling, the racks of books, and the rune-master in front of himself "But...if I could introduce you as some kind of tutor, I'm sure i could convince him to follow you, perhaps you could even take him to meet his father's army on the coast!" he seemed a lot more excited now, barely whispering at all.

[Scuffles]

Kristin, though battered and buffeted by the twin explosions going off around her, came out the other side still wreathed in the green light of her telekinetic shield. Still moving towards the pair of robots she gathered her strength and unleashed a terrific mental hammer-blow on the rightmost of the two. The OVERTHROW bot took the impact squarely and simply disintegrated, with arms, legs and pieces of its shattered torso crashing into the wall at the far end of the corridor.

The young Telekinetic spun towards the last of the bots and tried to close on it, trying to get close enough to make it impossible for that powerful cannon to come into play.

[GranspearZX]

"...huh. That's actually not a bad idea."

Arcturus wasn't entirely certain that this was a wise idea. The prince sounded even more emotionally unstable than him, which was saying something considering the Beast rune's effects on his already conflicted mental state. Despite the fact that he hated dealing with stuffy royal types--a fact he learned from his trip to War-Earth--he knew that this was likely his best bet in completing his objective. It was a rather roundabout way of doing it, but he realized that if he'd tried to extract the prince by force, he would have been facing not one but THREE hostile enemies that he wasn't allowed to harm.

Terrible odds, even by the Beast rune's standards.

Changing back to his human form, he stretched his arms above his head. "This might be a little less shocking for His Highness," he mused aloud, wincing inwardly at having to get used to using a title to address someone. "Maybe you should tell me what he knows before I go pretending to teach him anything..."

[Ari]

GM

Glow:

With a savage thundering, the last remaining robot sent a shell rocketing towards the telekinetic, shooting it almost directly at the her feet and sending a rain of shrapnel hurtling through the air to collide powerfully with her defensive shield, its lightless eyes tracking her with no sign of interest about the fate of its comrades. It readied itself for her next attack.

Arcturus:

"Yes, he doesn't like bears very much" explained Waker "As for what he knows...he knows the basics of elemental manipulation, with very fine control over wind and water, he knows how to bind spirits and how to scry the future, and he can talk to most animals. I tried to give him a broad education. One thing he is very bad at" he continued thoughtfully "Is runes. He finds it quite difficult to grasp the idea of using them for spellcraft, and also has little patience for the magical languages, preferring to use his power through sheer force of will." he looked hopefully at Marcus over his roman nose and bushy mustache "Does that help?"

[GranspearZX]

"That definitely helps.... can't wait to meet him."

Marcus took a deep breath. He HATED teaching and tutoring. Not that he couldn't, but explaining his thought processes to other people was always difficult. He was, at heart, an artistic person, but for some reason translating that into words and coherent thought was always a little difficult. Still, his knowledge of runic magic was pretty extensive, and it had even started to branch off into combining basic runes to create significantly more detailed arrays--something he certainly had Morgan to thank for later. The Beast rune was an array well beyond his experience, but the more he understood about runic magic, the more he realized just how little control he really had over its influence on his body, mind, and soul.

He certainly wasn't going to be teaching the prince any of that.

"I'm ready when you are."

[Vahnyu]

Hmmm... Net Fly thought as he tried to assess his options. The tunnel would definitely allow for me to move undetected, but if I were detected, it would humper my movements. The Elevator would be faster, but it would leave me practically a sitting duck. The platforms provide for some coverage with their boxes, and if push comes to shove, I can just take flight or make a dash for it.

Double checking, the young hero-in-trainning opted to go for the moving platform, but as he took the first step, the bone in his foot cracked into place, and for a moment, Net Fly's heart froze. Looking around, and finding against hope that no robot had picked on the noise, he continued carefully, while silently berating himself for not paying attention to his feet. At the platform, after having gone undetected for all this time, Net Fly ducked under a toolbox's cover, as the platform operated. Once it arrived on the top, Net Fly carefully ditched his hiding aid, and made way for the computer.

Finally! he thought, as he was able to recognize patterns in this more simplified console. His fingers moved above the interface, at first, as if he was memorising his plan. Closing his eyes, and opening them again, he proceeded to enter the commands he needed to deactivate the sensors. Hope this doesn't trigger an alarm flag.

[Ari]

GM

Arcturus:

Waker led the way up the staircase(after removing the protective spell that otherwise would have slowed Marcus considerably), taking the young magician to a iron-banded oak door nearly covered with runes and magical letters enough to keep Ios himself out. After Waker knocked twice on the thick door it was opened to reveal a slender young man about two years younger than Marcus, with unevenly-cut dark brown hair, gray eyes and skin colored like sand. He was wearing rich blue clothes decorated with gemstones on the hems and cuffs, with gold wires worked into his white vest and dark green shoes with long toes. He frowned at the rune-maker before demanding of Waker "Who is this?" in a tone so dismissive he probably would sounded much the same talking about a substandard piece of cutlery.

However, the extra sense that the Claremonter had for magic made the boy's words, while not excusable, at least understandable. he was a torrent of raw power, a blazing furnace of magic that seemed ready to immolate the world around it.

Suddenly it made a lot of sense why Waker was so afraid of the boy, the older mage registered like a candle flame in front of a blast furnace. At that instant, the candle was warmly introducing the furnace in as deprecating a manner as it could. "Ah! my dear, magnificent pupil Briar! You will be pleased to learn that I have brought you a new instructor to assist in your learning of those subjects that yet el-do not interest you" he corrected himself hurriedly "in particular the matter of rune -making and the letters of power. You have the makings of...powerful magician, and I would be saddened to know you had left my teaching without a proper training in such things. He is called Arcturus and he is a rare master of the art, I'm sure you'll get along." So saying he gave a quick nod to Marcus followed by a meaningful eyebrow-waggle, and the wizard descended back to his study.

The prince looked insolently at the other boy, clearly waiting for him to make the first move.

Net Fly:

The platform slid gravely along, its velocity never once having been altered either by the sudden arrival or departure of Net Fly's weight. It was probably soemthing to do with gravity, magnets, or both.

The computer was a sleek blue thing with an interface designed for maximum information given to users, with quickly-scrolling datta streams in the four corners recording the various energy expenditures used by the parts of this outpost for the central cumputer, color-coded buttons large enough to keep from one being accidentally pressed when aiming for another and a glare-reducing screen.

In moments the computer screen alerted its operator that the sensors had been deactivated, and that it would probably be best it that situation were fixed. it didn't appear that the system had any interior way of dealing with such an intrusion, which was bizarre but welcome. Now that the sensors were disabled, his options for dealing with the genocidal robots were quite increased.

[GranspearZX]

Arcturus just stared at the prince for several moments. Seeing Waker's magic was a sharp contrast to looking at the prince indeed; Waker's was measured, controlled... but the prince? It was disturbingly raw and undisciplined. It would have almost been impressive save the look the prince was giving him. It made the territorial nature of the Beast rune nudge at his psyche, nearly forcing him to say something he might regret later.

"Let's be clear on one thing, Highness." Arcturus stepped further into the room, confident and entirely undaunted by the prince's expression or his station. "What you get from my instruction is entirely up to you. I'm not here to coddle or baby you; you're an adult, and you'll be treated as one. And you'll succeed--or fail--on your own merit. Runic magic is not easy... In fact, if you're not careful, it could very well destroy you. I've seen it happen to men far greater."

Arcturus was entirely prepared for the prince not liking that one little bit. The prince was barely 16--Arcturus certainly wasn't going to allow himself to defer to anyone, and if he had to assert his dominance in other ways, he was fully prepared to do so. That, as far as he was concerned, had been Waker's first mistake. "Runic magic requires more than just barking out a few words and expecting something to happen. It requires an honest connection, surrendering your will to the energies around you. It's not nearly as complicated as it sounds..."

He raised his right hand and the Storm rune flared to life on the back of his hand. Violet streaks of lightning lanced upward between his fingers, sending small harmless sparks off of his fingertips. "But you gain nothing from me lying to you. The first lesson is knowing exactly how much you don't know."

[Scuffles]

Kristin just barely held her barriers together as the shrapnel flew around her. As the smoke of the explosion curled around her she straightened, holding her hands out to her sides level with her hips. They glowed with power and the remnants of the explosion lifted to hover next to her legs.

The young telekinetic released the breath she had been unintentionally holding and snapped her hands forwards. At her command the shards of metal launched forwards and drilled through the armoured shell of the last robot. With its circuitry shredded the metallic sentinel halted, then collapsed slowly to the floor of the corridor.

After a moment to recover Kristin waved to her fellow escapees. "Come on, let's go! I don't think I can take too many more of these guys!"

As Lucy and Frank ran past she fell into step close behind them, limping slightly on her battered legs. The three teenagers rounded the corner and dashed for the teleporter as another trio of OVERTHROW soldiers barged into the corridor in pursuit. "Go! get through, I'll cover you!" Kristin called as she turned towards the guards to buy time for the others. As the pair escaped she backed down the corridor, batting aside the gunfire of the guards with her telekinesis.

As she reached the teleporter herself, Kristin paused and gathered her powers around her then sent a wave of force down the hall to scatter the OVERTHROW troops. As they reeled away or fell she took the last step back to complete her triumphant escape.

[Ari]

GM

Arcturus:

It clearly took a great deal for the prince to get his temper, his face quickly turning red as Arcturus outlined the difference between runic and the power he was most used to, opening his mouth half-way through the short lecture, but closing it before a syllable escaped. At length he spoke, much more civilly than Marcus might have been expecting.

"We are pleased at your teaching ethic" the younger boy proclaimed a little sniffily "Lord Waker has long been too gentle with our instruction, perhaps such a change of pace will us good." Turning on an immaculately-shod heel, the youth waved over his shoulder for Marcus to follow him into the room.The place looked like the study below, but in miniature, and with hardly any books on the walls except a clearly untouched row of tomes detailing the more basic workings of magic. A small desk with a purple upholstered chair sat opposite a lectern and the arcane equivalent of a blackboard.

Watching him with narrowed eyes the prince prepared a small stack of blank paper and a stick o graphite. "Proceed" he said coolly.

Glow:

With an electric tone, the world around Kristin whitened, and she found herself stepping out onto the floor of the Doom Room, the door she had emerged from dissipating even as she left it, making the other three doors that much more conspicuous. Alan Archer's voice rang out over the loudspeaker "Great job, kid! Take a trip to the medical bay if you need to, you look pretty beat up. Showers are just across the main floor from the lounge, can't miss them! Feel free to rest, relax, take a nap, whatever. Color me impressed Ms. Jones." With a familiar noise the feed cut out once more.

Heraldo:

With a crash of shattering glass, cracking cement and twisting metal, the bus crumpled into the sidewalk a hairs-breadth from Subito as he leaped to safety, the one responsible for the bus-chucking walking briskly towards him, cracking their knuckles and brushing away the dust and grime from their impeccable white and green spandex costume. "You're not doing much to convince me, whelp" he said contemptuously "Better start talking before i decide to just carve you up with my penetra-vision!" He hoisted a car over his head and looked at El Heraldo, all but daring the stocky teen to make his move.

[Ari]

Ohnohnohnohno... El Heraldo's chest heaved slightly as he relaxed a little, staring his peril in the face as best he could. For what seemed like at least half an hour he had been dodging the attacks swung by the vicious man, who had kept almost entirely silent except to make brief, cutting remarks. As he looked at his faster, stronger adversary, the herald wondered with irritation how he was supposed to talk someone so superior down, when his abilities were quite limited compared to the others. Surge can think up a solution to ANY problem, Glow's got guts and to spare along with her telekinesis, and Marcus is frickin' magical. What can I do? Fly, hit people pretty hard, and make them feel more optimistic about it! Guess I could try and talk to him he thought in resignation, and squaring his shoulders he called over to his opponent "Look, it's like this: if you're THIS strong, why are you attacking me? I'm not much of a challenge for someone like you, I'm not as fast, I can't fight as well, can't hit as hard, really it just makes you look a bit like a jerk." He adjusted his feathered cap, uneasily aware of how lame this reasoning was, and how little chance someone would listen to it. Pressing on regardless he said "This isn't right, if you can do all this and you're chasing a kid around trying to hit them with cars and buses and stuff you're acting like being as powerful as you doesn't make EVERYTHING much more serious" warming to the subject he continued excitedly "I mean, if someone blows up a car they're a douchebag, right? What about when someone as strong as you does it? Does that make you the same as the unpowered guy or worse?"

He had little hope that kind of logic would work on a hologram programmed to try and beat him to a pulp, but he felt he had to at leat try it.

[Vahnyu]

Taking down the sensors array will hopefully mean that I will be able to move more freely without being noticed. Net Fly thought, as he inspected his surroundings once more, in order to find the perfect opportunity to slip back to the platform, and from there to make his exit from the room. Which means that my next stop will be the Comm Systems. If I hijack the Comms so that the droids can't actually communicate with one another, while making them THINK that they do (maybe have recorded responses sent to their quirries), then even if they catch me in the act, I will be able to dispatch them without raising alarms or having the rest of the crew come as backup, and buying me a lot of time before they catch up on the tampering I did (Will do?).

The Comm Systems should be about South-West from my current position. I wonder if there's a shortcut I can take so as not to backtrack...

[Ari]

GM

El Heraldo:

The towering man looked at Subito for a few minutes, frowning as he thought over what the younger man had said. At length he set down the car, leaned a hand over it and floated a few feet above the ground, staring at the gaudy paragon for a few seconds before saying at last "That does make some sense" he shrugged casually as he went on "and i guess I don't have to kill you right now or anything. I'm Strongarm, by the way" he added, smiling genially through his short black beard "You might say I'm an assassin".

Some of the people who had been running for their lives as Strongarm's rampage went on were gradually creeping back from around wrecked cars and tankers, those who heard the words staring in quiet horror at the man as he sat down on the upended vehicle, grinning disarmingly at El Heraldo.

Net Fly:

Indeed there was, a small chute with a bed in it that could take whoever lay in it anywhere they had the coordinates to. It was easy to make his way into a small, mostly concealed corner of the Comm Systems room, a rectangular place with no occupants at present whatsoever, a button and control panel-covered podium at the other end bearing a screen that looked down on the revolving Earth(they were currently over the South Pacific), and columns that served no imediately obvious purpose. It was, like most of the ship, clean and white.