Scratch Team (IC)

[Avenger Assembled]

Comrade Frost radioed in from Eldritch's house in response to the central announcement from League headquarters, the League Reserve's magical consultant sounding a little winded from the battle that had taken place near the home of the city's most powerful wizard. "Yes, that fits with our observations. Whoever is behind this, there is no magic in him, only cold mechanical heart. Have you tried contacting mechanical expert familiar with robots? I know Daedalus is dealing with crisis in Far East; but there must be someone the League can call, Dragonfly girl or Miss Americana." He hmmed. "I would have said try and reach Mentor if it were only Star Knight, but this speaks to greater crisis. I will be watchful here. Keep an eye out for Talos and his minions. This is the sort of trick that old creature might try."

[Fox]

Gaian Knight knelt down next to the remains, frowning behind his face cloth. "Seems kind of direct and unprofitable for the Foundry," he somberly mused, pulling back his hood and wishing he'd paid more attention to...well, anything involving fire, really, volcanoes aside. More to study later.... "Usually they're about stealing technology, selling technology, or the odd bid to take over the city for the 'glorious machine'. I guess I could see that last one - soften us up before moving in - but...hmm."

He stood up, reflexively straightening his coat. "I didn't have much luck earlier, but I'm going to give the local high-tech heroes and organizations another shot - maybe someone out there can take a look, or already knows something we don't. Star Knight's...." He glanced down at the pile of armor fragments, expression unreadable. "....Star Knight's dead, or gone, so we've got to get back to worry about the people here, and the people who'll be showing up or trying to reach out to us in the crisis."

[Electra]

Stesha opened her eyes, blinking away the afterimages of her communion with the plants. "The suit was empty!" she blurted out. "It was Star Knight's battlesuit, but it was empty and still moving and talking! How can that be?" She shook off the slight headache that always came from trying to make sense of what plants were thinking, loosening a few more pins from her green hair in the process. "All I know for sure is that whatever was in there, it wasn't Star Knight the hero." That was a relief, anyway! "And nothing inside the portal caused it to catch fire, it just suddenly did, and burned to nothing in less than thirty seconds."

She paused suddenly, holding a hand to her ear as a message came over her private comm link. "Yes, go ahead.... wait, they fought a superhero robot?" Her eyes widened, then flicked to the remains of Not-Star Knight on the ground. "Well, that would clear things up... yes, patch her through immediately."

In the moments the commlink was connecting, she told GK and Myrmidon, "The Interceptors just fought a robotic imposter down in the West Side. Could all of these things be just robots of heroes?" She quickly turned her attention back to the comm, taking a few steps away from the others. " "Fulcrum, this is Fleur de Joie. Comm says you're reporting a medical emergency? Are you guys all right? I'm in the city, just tell me where you're at and I'll jump over there. The city is a madhouse right now, but I guess you probably know that." She listened. "All right, I'm on my way."

"I have to go," she told the others. "Medical call. I'll be back as soon as I can!" With that, she touched the wilted flowers in her hair and blinked away.

[Semi-Autogyro]

Nodding at the heroine as she left, he turned to Gaian Knight. << Self-Termination protocol. Followed by a plasma charge designed to eradicate evidence. Plasma would burn hot enough to disintegrate organic tissue. >> He tossed the armor shard away, standing. << Explains the simultaneous breakouts. If we can capture one of these androids intact it could possibly lead us to the perpetrator or the ones they have replaced. >> He dismissed his weapon which dispersed into a fading blue burst of voxels.

Myrmidon focused on his armor and it reconfigured itself into a sleeker, more aerodynamic version. << I will start searching for an appropriate target of opportunity to disable. Contact me if you are able to locate another of these androids. >> The Claremonter stepped a good distance away from the other hero and faced the sky. Moments later the thrusters in the jet-pack fired and launched the hero skyward out of the hole left in the roof of Freedom hall.

[Avenger Assembled]

Sometime later, after the fighting in the city began to die down, Comrade Frost arrived at the front door of the battered Freedom Hall with Voltage in tow. With traffic still heavy in the streets, they'd flown in, Voltage via electrical speed and the relatively pokey Frost by means of an icy cloud that had drifted after Voltage in the air at a comparatively slow pace. "Come, I know things look bad, but I have seen invasions by things from beyond before and eventually we always win in any case," said the parka-clad cold controller with a particular bite in his voice as they headed inside. This was bad, actually, one of the worst disasters he'd seen while working in the United States, but he wasn't going to let the young hero dwell on inconsequentials such as that. They headed through the still-damaged front hallway, and were just about to hit the elevator when Myrmidon arrived. Frost found himself tensing briefly at the sight of the other hero, and fought off the bizarre urge before waving him over when he saw what he had. "Ah, good! You have a robot! And I have a genius. Come," he said, waving both younger men into the elevator. "Let us find Gaian Knight." It was very cold in the elevator, the air misting slightly around Frost as they headed up to the control room.

[Thunder King]

Voltage had researched the Terminus invasion to be at least a little familiar with it, so while the sights were disheartening, they weren't nearly as bad as that had been back then. Still, being suddenly summoned to help identify a robot after having already battled another was making this an interesting day. He had far more on his mind, like the robots apparently replacing superheroes, and the strange signal he identified and destroyed. Stopping crime and averting disasters was the point of being a hero, after all. Letting something like this cripple him emotionally would be akin to letting the bad guys win unchecked.

He was passingly familiar with Comrade Frost, at least enough to know the man was on the level. Myrmidon was another story, but he knew the hero had a reputation for summoning weapons and tech, his power origin was unsure. He recognized the name Gaian Knight, a terrakinetic, very powerful. A cold controller, an electricity controller, a weapon summoner and an earth controller. He felt fairly safe in the knowledge that should another attack occur, they would have a reasonable chance of fending it off.

Ignore the tragedy, ignore the deaths. Focus on the job, focus on helping people.

Still, as he rode in the elevator, he looked grim and serious.

[Semi-Autogyro]

Myrmidon cocked his head at the man in white, a feeling that he knew him personally somehow when he had never met the man before. Brushing it off as nothing he adjusted the robot duplicate of Orion on his shoulder as he followed the others into the elevator, both he and the android trailing water. << Apologies. I submerged the android after disabling it with an electromagnetic pulse in case the self destruct fail-safe activated. >> The resonse was lightly garbled through his masks' external comm-link, and the clone hero knew he would have to spend some time drying it out. Not to mention his waterlogged filters made everything smell like saltwater. Really, who needed a shark tank in a casino of all places?

Sighing at the prospect of hours of maintenance, John collapsed his armors' helmet. After all, the Freedom League already knew his ID as they were the ones that rescued him. "I am curious as to where the true counterparts to these machines are"; the teen said idly as the floor indicators counted down.

[Fox]

Gaian Knight wasn't hard to find - in the time since Myrmidon and Fleur had left he'd turned the situation room into something like a small command center, albeit not a very fancy one. The monitors that still worked were playing news feeds, and a large center table was dominated by the biggest map he'd managed to find. His was a war not so much of fighting the so-called 'Wrathful' than it was fighting the damage they were causing, trying to help coordinate repairs and aid both to the damaged city and to the people - sometimes no less damaged - who would occasionally trickle in.

He was finding it was surprisingly like trying to organize a class of first-semester Freshmen on a field trip.

"Hello!" He didn't look up from the map, though he didn't seem to be looking at that either, exactly; he seemed unfocused, and even through his goggles a soft golden glow could be seen. "Welcome - though, fair warning, if you're one of these robot things or here to cause trouble, you should know that we have a dragon."

The tall redheaded woman leaning against one of the walls snorted.

"Hmm...here, I think," he added, though he was talking to one of the few other people at the table as he poked a spot on the map. "There's a big gap under that building, still, that I don't think we got into. There might be people trapped down there. Ah - Myrmidon, right?" The glow faded and he looked up at Myrmidon with a tired but genuine smile. "And you appear to have brought friends, and a gift. Is that what I think it is?"

[Avenger Assembled]

The temperature in the elevator had gotten decidedly frosty, quite literally, when Comrade Frost had recognized John, his red eyes narrowing inside his parka's raised hood as he studied the teenager. Oh, it's him. Frost was one of the few living (well, sort of) beings who had known Wilhelm Kantor as a personal enemy, and had been someone to consult on at Myrmidon's discovery. "He has quite a tale to tell, Gaian Knight," said Frost, walking around with a trace of worry showing on his pale face. This _was_ bad, but he didn't want to admit that to the younger heroes. He shot a glance at Tiamat suspiciously, prompted by GK's warning, before adding, "I had thought Voltage would make our technical expert for the moment, if he does not mind being deputized as a Reservist given the crisis." He hmmed, putting his gloved hands behind his back, and went on, "I have contacted my colleagues in Moscow and they have no knowledge of these events. Whatever happened with these...machine, was restricted to Freedom City and its environs. Even the Devil in Jersey City was unaffected."

[Thunder King]

Voltage bent down and analyzed the robot. He glanced over it, seemingly too quickly to get any kind of impression. "This robot has some very sophisticated receivers, wouldn't be required if they weren't being controlled by something. Probably a signal device. Hidden in all likelihood." He said as he touched a small transmitter. "Hmm. unique signal. The source isn't like anything I've ever encountered. Triangulating it shouldn't be difficult." He closed his eyes for but a second.

As he closed his eyes, his mind identified the signal amidst the dozens of wireless signals in the air. He picked it out and immediately dissected it's unique signature. With that information in mind, he determined the signal strength and how much attenuation the signal had accrued by estimating the amount of electromagnetic interference in the area. This gave him distance. With that in mind, he traced the signal towards it's center, determining a rough area where the signal could come from.

Within a second later, his eyes opened again, and he stood back up. "Wharton State Forest, or thereabouts." He concluded. "Also fits requirements, wouldn't be that hard to hide a signal device there, much easier than in the city itself."

[Semi-Autogyro]

The eerie sensation of familiarity that John knew the white Russian came back, and it appeared to be mutual judging by the mans behavior. He decided to ask the man later, the important thing was for now to focus on the current situation. He had set the android duplicate of Orion the Hunter down on a table and stepped back to let the expert have a better look. The Claremonter was quite impressed with rapidity and speed of Voltages' acquisition of the transmitting array for these androids. Which left him with an observation.

"I am not an expert in these things, but this unknown signal is more than likely a monitoring device or comm channel. When the duplicate of Star Knight was contained, it activated a scuttling charge and destroyed itself." Myrmidon pointed at the deactivated android. "This one eventually figured out my intention was to disable it instead of damaging it, the android changed tactics and became even more aggressive in attempts to avoid capture. I estimate that these duplicates know their true nature as saboteurs as it would explain their penchant for collateral damage: as a terror tactic to sow chaos and confusion."

the clone hero moved over to study Gaian Knights' map. "Which makes it more like a diversionary tactic than a tactical strike, looking at the data so far."

[Fox]

"Wharton? Odd...it's out of the way, sure, but you'd think someone would notice some big communications array appearing in the middle of the forest. You'd think we've had noticed these robots before now, too, but it's harder to pretend you're a tree. I guess they could have put it underground, but I'd have...noticed....?"

He trailed off; as the hero had been talking his eyes had started glowing again as he pushed his senses westward, spreading his mind out through the earth in the hopes of noticing something he'd missed before. And he sure found something. "There's...a large chunk of earth missing from Wharton Forest. That's...." He looked confused and concerned, eyebrows furrowed down into a frown as he spoke. "That was not there before. I think we've found your device."

[Avenger Assembled]

"If we have traced robotic lion to his den, let us go and beard him," Frost suggested to the others, looking around at Voltage, Gaian Knight, and Tiamat. "Between the four of us, we are mighty superheroes, and we can handle many situations. Though perhaps leave someone behind to coordinate things, and summon allies in stead," the veteran hero offered. "This is a mighty foe we face and we will need all the friends we can get along the way." Frost was tempted to volunteer to stay behind himself, but didn't want to drive Gaian Knight out of a coordinating post he was already occupying expertly. "I suggest we ask around among teams that are dealing with crisis, see their knowledge and who can be spared from struggle with robot wreckers."

[Thunder King]

"Excellent idea." Voltage said. "We don't know exactly what we are walking into. The more heroes and coordination we have, the better. I could stay, but I'd rather be there to look at the transmitter. While I welcome the opportunity to work with more heroes, I know I couldn't have been the first person on your list to call. That means there aren't many tech savvy heroes available for this, so it's probably best I go along to disable it. There may be bombs or any number of other problems that might prevent simply destroying it from being the best course of action."

[Semi-Autogyro]

John scowled slightly when he was left from the assault list for the underground site. "Since the objective is to take this underground bunker intact, the ideal entry methods would be breaching it from the sides or underneath via a tunnel. The inhabitants are likely prepared for a direct frontal assault or using a demo charge from above." He tuned to Gaian Knight. "How large of a complex are we potentially dealing with? Depending on size, depth, and internal structure; anyone who went would could be potentially stepping into a killbox regardless of breaching point."

The clone found the nearest space of unoccupied wall and leaned against it. "Whatever we decide, I will go along with the plan. Даже еÑли мой помощь параде по Ñтому вопроÑу." The remainder of that statement was directed at Comrade Frost.

[Fox]

Tiamat, still leaning against the far wall (for lack of things to punch), snorted at Myrmidon's Russian comment. "Забавный. "

Gaian Knight may not have been able to understand any of the Russian going around, but he didn't miss Frost's snubbing of Myrmidon, nor the tone in Myrmidon's reply. He held up his hands, shaking his head. "Let's be as civil as possible, hm? As for what they'll have ready for us, I honestly couldn't tell you; I can tell what the size of the place is -" - he paused to indicate its rough diameter on the map - "- but to me it just looks like a big void in the earth. It could be a big empty cavern, or it could have a complex, walled-off structure inside - I can't tell the difference. We'll have to play it by ear. I could get us in through a tunnel, though, if that's the way we want to go."

[Avenger Assembled]

"Hm," was Frost's only comment at the rebuke, but he did look at the Kantor-clone with reddened eyes before looking back at the data. "Well. Every moment we stand here, what lies within that underground bunker continues to spread its power over city. Heroes are destroying minor control junctions now, but I believe we are first to find this. Even if we destroy every robot, it will remain below unless we strike together. All of us." He tapped the chart and said, "I can fly, though not fast. Tiamat, can you give transportation to myself and others who lack your grace and power in air?" he inquired seriously. "I believe if we rendezvous at this site," he added, pointing to a currently vacant day camp on the map, "we can work our way down into cavity, no? Then let us go."

[Thunder King]

"Flight isn't necessary. I can teleport us all there instantaneously, unless anyone has any objections." Voltage said. "I can also leave coordinates for anyone who comes here who wants to help us out there."

He looked from hero to hero, waiting for confirmation that it was okay to teleport them. Instantaneous transportation was far better than flight. Nobody could see their approach, and every moment was precious. In fact, he decided that he wasn't going to wait for permission, deciding to go ahead and teleport them. He doubted anyone would be upset, time was of the essence.

"I apologize if this is rude, but we don't have time to reach consensus." He closed his eyes and silvery current danced from him to the others. Within seconds, they were gone, traveling at the speed of a lightning bolt towards their destination.

[Semi-Autogyro]

When they arrived at the day camp site Comrade Frost had indicated on the map, Myrmidon had redeployed his helmet and scanned the treeline surrounding the site for any potential ambushers. Satisified after a couple of visual passes, he fished out an all-weather lighter from one of his armors' utility packs. Seconds later the clone was holding a flamethrower complete with backpack mounted fuel-tank.

<< Flammenwerfer. >> He explained, his heritage showing as he used the German nomenclature for the weapon. << Ideal tool for clearing bunkers. I can act as pointman for during the initial breach and secure a beachhead. >>

[Fox]

"Hah!" Tiamat looked at the weapon with a sense of appreciation, albeit appreciating tinted with heavy amusement. "It's cute. I like your style, kid."

Gaian Knight was no less impressed, but his was colored by caution, rather than humor. "Just promise me you won't be using it on people," he said, frowning. "We don't know what's down there yet, and I think we've pretty well-established that we have difficulties telling the difference between these duplicates and real humans."

With that out of the way, he cracked his knuckles and pulled his face cloth up around his mouth. "Right, so. Coming in from a tunnel, was it?" There was surprisingly little fanfare as he started to move: he just walked, the ground under his feet silently opening up to form a ramp into the dark earth. "Guess we'd better get going, then. I'll leave it open behind us, in case we need a fast way out."

[Avenger Assembled]

Frost had been about to make a remark about how very familiar he actually was with German flamethrowers, given the great many flammenwurfer operators on the Eastern Front who had learned to their extreme surprise that his ice powers were enhanced by heat rather than burned by them. But he dismissed the thought after a moment, he'd already cavalierly dismissed the young man who was now standing alongside them once, it wouldn't do to do so again. "Well then, let us give a warm greeting to these cold-hearted bastards!" He disappeared down the tunnel after Gaian Knight and the others, a rippling cloud of chilling fog that was cold to the touch, and erupted through behind them into the stronghold of their enemy as soon as their terrakinetic had torn it open.

They found a grim scene of technological horror; a triangular room cast in too-bright, silver-black shadows by glowing overhead beams, with dozens of transparent tubes filled with translucent green goo - inside were the clearly recognizable faces of the missing, with some known and others hidden by masks before their terrible day. There was Duncan Summers over there, there was Magni Thorrson, unconscious and hooked up to a complex arrays of tubes and machinery around their mouths and heads. At the end of a short corridor lined with the tubes stood the form of a girl John recognized from class and the others recognized from the reports of carnage they'd seen around the city: fourteen-year-old Dorothy Langford, aka Quickstep, teleporter turned terrorist turned robot spy. Or was she?

"Hahahahah, you fools!" she laughed manically at the sight of them, portals opening behind her to reveal unholy curls of glowing energy. "You dare to face me in my stronghold on the eve of my greatest triumph! Omega WILL prevail! Come forward, fools, and tell your gods that QUICKSTEP SENT YOU!"

[Semi-Autogyro]

Amongst the Irregulars, it was joked that John had two settings: blase and taciturn. It was not true really, since the clone had chosen to keep a iron hand in control of his emotions. But that did not last as Myrmidon looked over to the tube that contained the form of Duncan Summers, a man who he truly respected and owed a debt to that he knew he could never truly repay. A man who played chess daily with him since the his other friends had families to go to on winter break. A man who inspired him to be greater than his past, while giving the keys to being his own person and not a mere duplicate. That rigid control loosened for a few seconds, allowing a crack in the facade to show as the teen soldier attention returned to the to the gloating woman followed by predatory electronic growl broadcasting from his armors external comm.

The flamethrower he had dismissed, the weapon being of little use without potentially harming the tubes and their occupants by using them as a backstop. Instead he moved forward to engage Quickstep, a glowing torus of energy materializing into his hand. At the end of his movement his arm lashed out it a savage upward swing, releasing the glowing disc which ricocheted wildly in the area occupied by Quickstep before returning to his hand.

[Thunder King]

The people in tubes, the crazed teenage girl. All of this was strange, and horrifying. He had no idea how long this had been going on, how long the facility had been there, or how many people were in the facility. Voltage did not like variables that he did not know. It made creating a strategy on minimal information, and that was always risky.

So, when the girl started shouting about Omega, he fired off a blast of electrical current, designed to take her down peacefully. Unfortunately, he underestimated how much power he should use, and it seemingly did nothing to her.

That wasn't good.

[Fox]

"Hahahaha! Really?" Tiamat had cast a careful glance around the room as they'd entered, grimacing at the tight quarters, but now her attention was entirely on this 'Quickstep' person. "Child, this stopped being the eve of your greatest anything the moment we walked in here."

She drew her mace, thumping it against her hand as she strode toward Quickstep, grinning all the way. "The way I hear it, Omega's a chump - either gone or crawled into a hole somewhere to bleed. And you're, what, thirteen? Outnumbered and outgunned, left to guard a bunch of prisoners while everyone worth paying attention to does the real work. Hell, we found you by accident."

Her grin was showing off a lot of teeth now - teeth that were really a lot sharper than they had any right being, and as she laughed little bits of fire were escaping from between them. "Siddown, kid, before we make you."

[Avenger Assembled]

For his part, Comrade Frost avoided the theatrics of his more showy compatriots. It wasn't that he disapproved, far from it. This was a time to rally together with bold words and brave deeds against the monster that had set war amongst their city and killed so many. But he left that sort of talk, and that sort of work, to younger men and women who still had fire in the belly. That was something he'd lacked for a long time. So instead of the taunts and the threats, he simply disappeared in a puff of chilling white mist, floated amongst the darkened suspended animation tubes, and reappeared just behind Quickstep. "Your youthful appearance may fool the others, but you cannot melt a heart so cold!" He put one ungloved hand on her back, and that was all it took. With his touch, the young robot, already battered from Myrmidon's attack and flinching from Tiamat's oncoming attack, suddenly stiffened and froze, eyes widening and flesh turning blue. Frost continued his attack as a crackling sound filled the air and flakes of frozen synthskin flicked off the robot, revealing the steely flesh within, before suddenly it fell from his grasp and landed on the floor with a sound like cracking glass, shards of frozen metal sliding across the floor as the fractured, frozen robot lay perfectly still.

"Hm," Frost added, pulling his glove back on as he stepped away from the others. "Better get to work."