Scratch Team (IC)

[Avenger Assembled]

January 15, 2013

After 9 AM

Fleur and Gaian Knight were conferring in Fleur's house over plans for the coming spring on Sanctuary when suddenly both their League alarms began beeping loudly; the urgent SOS call that bespoke total disaster. Hitting their mikes got a voice they didn't recognize, probably one of the League's security staff, yelling, "Emergency, emergency, it's Star Knight, she's gone crazy and she's-" The sound of a single devastating blast cut off the signal, which faded to static just as a malevolent feminine laugh came erupting through the speakers. There was no getting it back, not on any channel they used: Freedom Hall was under attack, and the signal from Earth-Prime was cut off!

-

Myrmidon was on his way to Freedom Hall when the roof blew off. An armored figure that certainly looked like Star Knight erupted out the hole in the top and fired a few more stray blasts into the now-roofless headquarters, the explosion shaking the ground beneath his boots as others echoed in the distance, alarms and screams breaking the bustle of a Freedom City morning. People were running from Freedom Hall in terror, tourists and uniformed Freedom League staffers alike, the uniformed agents at least doing their duty to help organize the evacuation. "Everybody get out!" one was yelling as debris from the ongoing explosions inside the building rained down on him. "Get out of this area and return to your homes, right now!"

[Semi-Autogyro]

John had just looked at his watch and noted he was ahead of schedule for his appointment when what appeared to be another mundane day in Freedom City apparently had decided to become interesting.

The Claremonter paused for the barest of seconds as he surveyed in the carnage before breaking into a full dash towards the now crumbling edifice of Freedom Hall. Passing through a thick cloud of debris from the falling masonry, he activated his armor and Myrmidon emerged fully clad on the other side of the cloud. Needing more intelligence on the developing situation, the teen began a sensor sweep of the nearby police and civilian radio bands for more information as he vaulted the crumpled remains of what used to be a stone bench.

The clone hero slowy but surely made headway through the panicked crowd as he advanced towards the nearest staffer. << Sitrep. How many more are inside? >> Myrmidon asked the disheveled staffer, the modulated tones of his external comm-link cutting above the din.

[Electra]

Stesha's eyes were wide as she listened to the broadcast from the Freedom League. "That sounds... that's really not good," she decided, even as she jumped from her comfortable seat on the sofa. "And I'm not even dressed, shoot!" She raced back into her bedroom and dug out her uniform, tossing it on overtop the comfortable dayclothes she'd been wearing. "And Amaryllis... shoot." The toddler, who had been happily playing with a shape sorter in the corner, looked up at her name. "Tarrant, her shoes are on the table, could you put them on her? I have to send her to the monastery, they'll watch her there. Carson's out at that prison thing this morning, he's not going to be available... what could be going on out there?"

In less than a minute, Stesha was back, having completed the transition to Fleur de Joie, costumed crimefighter and Freedom League Auxiliary member. "You ready to go? Do we need to pick up Tiamat on the way?" she asked, sounding a bit harried already.

[Fox]

"That's...ah, jeeze. That's not good. Here's to hoping it's just Star Knight and not the whole Order." Tarrant was on his feet almost as fast, snagging his sword from where it had been leaning against his chair and strapping it on as he grabbed the shoes and set about convincing Amaryllis to wear them. He was just glad he'd been doing some digging earlier - the extra trip to his castle might have been extra time they didn't have, from the sound of it.

And speaking of extra time.... "We shouldn't have to - she tends to stick pretty close, hoping for...well. This kind of thing, really. Hey, Teagan!" That last bit was shouted out the window, accompanied by a loud - if not piercing, for Amaryllis' sake - whistle. "Showtime!"

Sure enough, the beat of leathery wings was audible almost immediately; a shadow briefly darkened the light coming through the windows before a distinctive rush of fire was heard as Sanctuary's one and only dragon took a form more suited for under-sized human doorways....

[Electra]

"Oh, that's handy!" As Fleur wrestled a protesting Amaryllis into a sunny yellow winter jacket, she gave Teagan a quick smile. "I wish I'd known you were around! You should've come inside as well, I have three pounds of London Broil in the refrigerator that I haven't even cooked yet!" Going to the radio hanging on the leafy wall, she contacted the monastery a few miles away. "Brother Joseph, this is Fleur, I have an emergency call, can I send Ammy to you for a couple of hours? She's had her breakfast and is ready to play. Thanks so much."

Picking up the little girl, Stesha kissed her soft green curls. "You be good for Brother Joseph, all right? Do what he says and take your nap when it's time. I love you!" She opened a bright yellow flower in the wall and nudged Ammy through it, then turned to the others, all business now. "If Star Knight's gone bad, the whole city is in danger. We should all be very careful." Raising her arms, she opened another portal, this one adult sized, and beckoned the others through.

[Avenger Assembled]

A normal teenager would have been turned away in a hurry, but not Myrmidon, a respected young hero. This close, John could see the fear that the security guard was trying to suppress. "Star Knight went insane at the courthouse this morning," he said shortly, "she killed a defendant and his lawyer on the courthouse steps, and two inmates when she opened fire on the jail. We tried to call her back here, but she flew in the roof and said we were all against her, and then she began attacking everyone! We've already lost people and-" There was another tremendous crash from inside, knocking loose a shower of debris, that finally sent the guy running, sheparding his charges from inside the building but leaving this super-disaster to a superhero.

-

Inside at that moment, Fleur and company stepped out of a flower just as Star Knight came crashing down through the ceiling. The armored heroine had blood on her armor and was covered in dust, and was standing over the smashed-dead body of a guard that had fallen through the hole just ahead of her. "Hahaha-oh hey, Fleur and Gaian Knight," said the maddened space knight from inside her armor, sounding maniacally pleasant. "Are YOU going to give me a speech about how I should start pulling my punches when dealing with the criminal scum of the universe? Because let's not fool ourselves, I'm getting _really_ tired of hearing that, and I am not afraid to PULL YOU UP BY THE ROOTS! Ahaha!'

[Semi-Autogyro]

Myrmidon stood out of the way as the security officer shepherded his charges away from the weakened structure and made sure that all of nearby civilians were away while tapping into the local police and emergency band.

<< Myrmidon to any available responders. Reporting multiple civilian casualties in Freedom Hall, in addition to significant structural damage from ongoing meta-human threat. I need immediate med-evac for the critical wounded and cordon set up to clear the nearby buildings. Be aware that suspect has been identified as Star-Knight of the Freedom League, any further contact with any other League Members should be approached with caution. I repeat, Star-Knight has gone rogue. >>

He repeated the message twice, before turning and stalking into the ruins of Freedom Hall acutely aware that he might be facing multiple hostiles in the form of the Freedom League.

[Fox]

"How about we start with pulling punches when fighting people who aren't scum, and discuss things from there?" Gaian Knight offered, holding up his hands in a placating gesture and trying very hard not to look at the dead guard. "The criminals in this city aren't going anywhere - I'd like to think we have some time to talk about this."

Tiamat said nothing, though - as ever - she was clearly ready for a fight. Her gaze wasn't on the dead human, but on the room, trying to size up how much it would hamper her maneuverability if she dropped her weaker human form. She liked to think she was pretty tough, but wasn't keen on the idea of throwing down with a member of the League with one hand tied behind her back....

[Electra]

Fleur remained quiet while Gaian Knight spoke, the small woman in green looking especially nonthreatening and insignificant next to the far more imposing Tiamat. With her hands folded demurely at her waist, there was nothing to clue Star Knight in to the fact that the lobby plants had suddenly taken a turn for the peripatetic. Behind the maddened League member, the potted plants were sending out runners across the floor, pooling soundlessly at Star Knight's feet for just a moment, then seeming to leap upwards all at once to wrap themselves around the environmental suit. The enormous strength of the suit was impossible to fully restrain, but the vines did a passable job, wrapping around the helmet of the suit to further hinder any attempt at further violence.

Fleur looked at Gaian Knight with wide eyes. "I think talking is going to have to wait," she told him. "We've got to shut her down."

[Semi-Autogyro]

Myrmidon skulked through a half-collapsed corridor in Freedom Hall, heading toward the faint voices. A vague sense of déjà vu hit him as he realized that he had done this before. The clone hero had recalled his SHADOW handlers combat scenario, a terror mission with the secondary objectives of assassination of any League targets of opportunity. John allowed himself a smug grin of satisfaction of his original training being subverted yet once again, even as he knew the mission survivability rate of the scenario was estimated at 6.5%

The room beyond the corridor had caved in, opening into a larger area open to the sky. Seeing Star Knight there, he ducked behind the remains of a desk and surveyed the scene. Star Knight was currently being accosted by plants. One of them is a Cholokinetic. There were two women present besides Star Knight, one a statuesque redhead and the other a shorter woman wearing a hood. Were they waiting for something? The only other figure was the armored swordsman, who had not drawn his weapon. Odd.

The super-soldier considered his options. Any kinetic weaponry would be dangerous as it could potentially destabilize the structure more. He still needed a weapon, which was quickly rectified via pair of batteries and his abilities. At least two of them were infighting. Which meant it would be best to wait for either party to incapacitate the other and then move in. However, he did not know if the other supers present were afflicted like whichever two were fighting as the three appeared to be watching the confrontation. The enemy of my enemy is my enemys' enemy. Nothing more, nothing less. As the saying went. It was not a great plan, but John admitted to himself that he was better off taking a wait and see approach as to blitzkrieging his way into multiple hostiles firefight.

[Electra]

Matching deed to words, Fleur concentrated on the vines that were surrounding, if not entirely trapping, the crazed heroine in the battlesuit. "I don't know if this is going to work," she murmured, "but I have to try." Her two companions were both familiar with what came next, the yawning yellow flower that opened over Star Knight, dropping overtop her like a candle snuffer and then falling away, empty on the floor. "That might not last!" she said, even as she hurried across the floor. "We need to see if there are other injured people in the building!" She knelt next to the guard, afraid it was hopeless, but trying to find signs of life anyway.

[Fox]

"Tch. Y'could've at least waited until we'd gotten to punch her a little," Tiamat said, though her actions didn't match her tone - no sooner had Fleur's flower eaten Star Knight than she was off at a run toward the nearest stairs, making her way to the upper floor as fast as her legs would carry her. That hole looked like it went all the way up through the roof, and goodness knows who'd gotten hurt on the way down - or who'd gotten hurt before they'd arrived to put a stop to things.

And hey, maybe she'd luck out and there'd be another like Star Knight up there somewhere, causing trouble. That'd be fun, and good to stop as early as possible.

[Avenger Assembled]

The security guard was dead, his broken body looking as though he'd been driven through multiple floors by the sheer power of the flying Star Knight's armor. Fleur knew his face, but he'd been a new hire, not someone she'd had the time to get to know at Freedom Hall. Upstairs, Tiamat found Freedom Hall that looked as though it had been through the apocalypse, smashed walls and injured people showing where Star Knight had rampaged her way through the building. There were people up here who needed Fleur de Joie's help and that of other people with first aid training, broken legs and burns showing the effects of super-strength and energy blades, others who had been injured by debris in the melee.

Worst of all was the situation room, a space Star Knight had repeatedly trashed: from live feeds across the city, Tiamat could see carnage across the city on her working monitors as heroes she vaguely recognized turned on each other and on their citizens like so many starving younglings in an abandoned nest. Though the worst of the actual fighting was dying down, the city was still in danger: there were unfought fires and chemical spills going unchecked, rampaging gods in the state forest, and people were still terrified by the outbreak of madness and violence that showed no cause.

[Semi-Autogyro]

the super-soldiers eyes narrowed as he watched the trio, as they were not behaving as if mentally compromised. Deciding to trust his instincts Myrmidon moved out of cover from behind them and addressed the shorter woman who had captured the rogue super with a plant of all things. << Emergency Services are en-route. >>

His stance was wary with his weapon at rest but able to be used at a moments notice. << Will your containment vessel hold? The other members of the League are unaccounted for thus far. >> To the others, he seemed unconcerned to the death and destruction that lie in this place with his focus firmly on them.

[Fox]

"Ah, jeeze....hey, Knight!" Gaian Knight looked up to see Tiamat's head poking over the edge of the hole - she looked worried, which was never, ever a good sign. "And...person I don't know. Whatever. There're a lotta hurt people up here, but that's the least of it - the whole city's gone nuts. Doesn't look like this was just Star Knight: half the city's on fire or in the middle of getting smashed apart."

"That's...dang. Okay," he replied, rubbing the back of his neck as he took that in. He didn't seem put out by Myrmidon's sudden appearance, at least - it looked like they could use all the help they could get. Alright. Priorities. "Hopefully emergency services get here soon - thanks. Worst case, we could probably evacuate the building - all we need is a hospital that's still working in all of this mess."

[Electra]

Fleur gently closed the guard's eyes before turning to Myrmidon. "I don't know how long it will hold," she admitted. "But it's the best I could do for now. We need to triage the injured people here, and start some sort of organized response. I can start healing people and moving them to Sanctuary, that's probably the safest place for anyone now. Gaian Knight, can you and Tiamat get an idea of the tactical situation in the city and maybe start sending people who aren't crazy to places where they're needed?"

She extended a vine through the hole in the ceiling, creating a simple climbing path from the lobby to the floors above. "You, ah... you're Myrmidon, aren't you?" she hazarded, fishing through her memory for the name. "From Claremont? Can you round up the able-bodied people still in the building and try and get some sort of roll call going until you're needed for a mission? We need to figure out what kind of assets the League has available to us before we can get organized."

[Semi-Autogyro]

Frowning underneath his helmet at the unknown time-frame for restraining Star Knight, he nearly snapped to attention once the woman started giving out orders. When she was finished he answered. << Understood, Ma'am. I am trained in field medicine and will stabilize the casualties who can survive. >> The clone had began extracting his first aid supplies located in one of his various compartments strapped to his armor.

<< I would recommend reinforcing the structure as well, if that is within you or your companions means. >> The Claremonter turned to start his search pattern for survivors. << Please call if your require further assistance. There may be other compromised Freedom League members present. My comm-link frequency is currently on the emergency band, as I will be directing the SAR efforts.>> Myrmidon headed out in the direction of the main foyer of Freedom Hall, knowing that the largest concentration of injured or trapped civilians would likely be in that location.

[Fox]

"Can do - and I'll reinforce the building on my way up," Gaian Knight offered. Stone and dirt had already begun flowing in from the surrounding area and from outdoors, some of it pulling together into a platform for him to step up onto and the rest starting to assemble into a series of pillars organized around the hole in the ceiling - the pillars' progress followed him up as he followed Fleur's vine upward, headed for the situation room. "Give us a shout the moment Star Knight breaks free, and we'll be right back down."

As soon as he was through the hole he beckoned Tiamat over, trading places with her so that she could ride his platform up to the roof while he went to the situation room. "I'm going to see what we have on camera, and hopefully we still have lines of communication going - can you give me a fly-by and figure out what's bad in our immediate area? It'd be nice to know if it's coming for us before it gets here. And, er, try not to get into any fights." That last bit was an afterthought, and didn't sound too hopeful.

Tiamat's reply to that was indistinct, but amused-sounding, and a minute later there was a sound like a surge of fire and the flap of massive leathery wings as something big took off from the roof.

[Avenger Assembled]

The news from across the city wasn't good. There was a bad fight in the Fens that was still winding down between the Bee-Keeper, the second one, and a group of heroes amid a scene of blazing buildings and carnage, while some shooting incident at the hands of a Claremont student at a Walsh campaign rally had left behind dead and wounded, including several dead Terminus activists, civilians, and rumors abounded about the iconoclastic Congressman himself. There had been an incident at Providence, now repressed, and a riot was ongoing at Blackstone Prison, where Gabriel and Miss Americana, the last heroes on the scene, were still incommunicado. All they had was word had come out that Harrier, the Omegadrone, had gone mad and been destroyed before he could destroy the reactor beneath the prison.

At least in Freedom Hall, the damage itself wasn't too bad, or at least not as bad as it might have been. While people had been hurt by the rampaging Star Knight, some quite badly, by some miracle only the one security guard had died in her last great powering through the building. The same could not be said for her rampage at the courthouse, but one had to take small mercies where one got them. They were certainly glad to see Myrmidon, particularly the injured group of kids from the local high school who'd been hit by a shower of falling masonry. Scared as they were, things weren't so bad that the sight of a hero with first aid wasn't a very welcome thing. In the situation room, despite the holes in the ceiling and floor, Gaian Knight could see the regular status reports coming in from the various branch teams: whatever was going on, it only seemed to be happening in Freedom City.

Meanwhile, down below, Fleur felt a faint echo of a concussion, and realized her flower, the one trapping Star Knight, had burst into flames!

[Electra]

Fleur had been kept quite busy by all the casualties, setting up triage areas wherever she went and having the less injured bring her or point her to their more injured colleagues. Her supplies of herbal medicines were quickly exhausted, leaving nothing but the plants she could grow and her own raw power to heal the many wounded people. Before long her cowl was gone, used as a blanket to cover a shocky survivor, and her sleeves rolled up, her arms and tunic spotted with blood. Even so, all the people here knew who she was, and quickly realized that she was still one of the good guys, making her a welcome sight.

She was just fastening a bandage of leaves around the healing gash in a technician's arm when she felt the sudden pain from her flower portal. Something was wrong, something was trying to break through!" Immediately she activated her communicator. "GK, Myrmidon, Star Knight is coming back! I can't hold her much longer, we have to do something to stop her. Hurry!" She raced through the hallways and down the stairs as fast as she could, digging in her pouch for more aggressive seedlings.

[Semi-Autogyro]

<< Tibial Shaft Fracture. Avoid jostling the leg. She can be moved safely to the MEDEVAC now. >> The Helmeted hero intoned to to the two teenage girls flanking a third, who had a makeshift field-splint supporting to her broken leg after being administered painkillers. He was about to move onto the next casualty when Fleurs' message came in over his comm, immediately responding to the message. << Roger that, Ma'am. En-route to the location. >> He quickly located the nearest able bodied individual and pointed at the man. << You there. Inform everyone to evacuate to a safe distance. >>

Unslinging the weapon from his shoulder and into his hands, Myrmidon turned and sprinted back into the interior of the Hall.

[Fox]

Gaian Knight allowed himself only a few moments to be overwhelmed by the size of it all, the sheer scale on which things were going wrong. By the time Tiamat had finished her surveillance and made her way back down into the building to report he was already halfway through the list of active, out-of-city heroes he knew of or who could be pulled from files, getting the attention of anybody who had a communicator, who'd pick up their phone, or who'd answer their e-mail. This was contained to Freedom City for now, but without knowing what had caused it or why it was happening - not to mention the powers of some of those involved - he wasn't taking any chances. Besides, they'd need all the help they could get.

He was no wizard of a coordinator or telecommunications expert, but with Tiamat's help they were nearly through the list of anyone who owed either of them any favors at all (or those to whom they were willing to owe favors in the future) when Fleur's warning came. They'd done what they could; both hero and heroine put their salvaged equipment aside and made a break for the hole that led down to their teammate.

[Avenger Assembled]

The gathered heroes watched the pale green fire burn away at the giant flower holding the maddened Star Knight for what felt like forever before suddenly the fire sizzled out into nothingness, leaving a charred, but still standing, flower looming over them. At the same time, Fleur felt a strange sensation of lessened weight from inside the flower, and when at last she opened it with all the heroes in the room at the ready, a shower of metal and dust fell out of the opening. The scorched metal parts were only vaguely recognizable as pieces of the super-tough Star Knight armor. It looked as though something had come along inside Fleur's flower, or perhaps had been there all along, and incinerated something tough enough to fly through the corona of a star!

[Electra]

Fleur stared at the wreckage, flabbergasted and more than a little concerned. "Nothing like that has ever happened before!" she assured the others, even as she hurried forward to examine the charred remains. "Putting someone inside my plants is typically very safe, I've done it to myself just to make sure it's not painful or too scary. There's just nothing in there to burn someone!" She looked at the charred insides of the flower, running her fingers along the burnt and crumbling edge. "This shouldn't have happened." She closed her eyes and extended her senses into the plants themselves, trying to gather the scattered impressions they had picked up of whatever had gone wrong inside what should've been a safe containment cell.

[Semi-Autogyro]

Myrmidon walked over to the plant, knelt, and picked up a shard of armor from the floor. He turned over the warped and blackened armor fragment, investigating each side. << Odd. Fragmentation pattern and debris as presented indicates a concussive detonation, burn marks evidence incendiary explosive. >> He felt he was missing something, John knew, as he wracked his brain over weapon effects and yields needed to produce a similar results. << Secondary detonation, due to the enclosed space of the containment device? >> Whatever it was, it had annihilated a suit of alien battle-armor and its wearer with energy to spare.