ic Overthrow of the Sea! (IC)

[Brown Dynamite]

Omen nodded accepting the terms.  "Fifteen minutes seems long enough to get a quick snack.  Just try and avoid any recruitment posters.  The allure of joining the eye in the sky probably loses its luster after the first ride in the Max Armor."  The blonde quipped swinging his legs onto the ground before rising comfortably to his feet.  Whistling ever so slightly as the upbeat man got ready to leave the room.

 

The very notion of being deputized by AEGIS was quite fascinating in its own right.  Especially with the all access pass around in a facility that was out of an old school blend of sci-fi and spycraft novels.  Suffice to say the energetic boy inside of him was loving every minute of it.  Erick was not one to ever lose track of just how fun putting on a cape and cowl could be.  It was the little things like a Russian adventure in which he was to take part in helping take down a terrorist cell on the high seas.  Straight up reverse piracy.  He could probably do with keeping a more serious line of thinking.  But it was so hard when the words came out so enjoyably.

[KnightDisciple]

Gabriel nodded at the terms and Omen's words.

 

"That's enough time to catch a bite or take care of other matters."

 

Unless stopped, he would head down the hall toward the lunchroom, stopping for only a few moments in the men's room. After that, he'd swing into the lunch room. There, he gave nods and greetings to the agents and staff moving about. He himself grabbed a couple of bottles of water (tucking one away into a pocket of his coat) and a thick sandwich. He found a free seat in a corner of the room, doing his best to ignore the stares surely directed toward him. The sandwich didn't quite "disappear", but it definitely didn't take long before it was consumed, along with the water bottle. The hero in white grabbed a couple breath mints on the way to the hangar, and it was about 12 minutes after the group had gone their separate directions that he arrived in the boarding area. 

[Ari]

GM

 

Hours later, off the coast of Russia

 

The sleek aircraft appointed to the heroes wasn't as quick as teleporting would have been, but it allowed plenty of time to plan. That it was perfectly silent as it streaked through the skies helped. It had a roughly arrow-head shape that bore a slight resemblance to certain famous stealth bombers, albeit with a much less subtle blue-red color scheme and less angular style.

 

The massive freighter ahead rocked as stormy seas rumbled and crashed about it. The full complement of equipment each of the six had requested had been supplied, and the craft's jamming gear was busy silencing their target's radio and satellite connections.

 

"Alright, pulling down" the pilot called over the intercom, her voice quite calm as the craft dove out of the sky and hit the water at an oblique angle, a faint jolt the only sign anything had happened for those inside. Surfacing after a few minutes of quiet in the roaring ocean, the AEGIS plane came to a halt. James Riter, captain of the first squad ducked into the passenger area for a second, saying "Alright, Omen, Silver Spider, there's a small hoverboat we'll release from the cargo bay, that's your ride to the good ship East. Best of luck to you there, and feel free to call for help if you need it." The team of heroes had already been given small capsule-like communicators, which the squad captain had assured them would only send messages they wanted to.

 

Sitting down as he checked through his small arsenal of non-lethal weaponry, the captain went on "Rest of you folks, set out as you please, that splashdown should get the sub's attention even with most of its sensors blinded, and they won't be expecting an assault like you people. Don't worry, we'll be moving enough to keep them drawing a bead on old Thunderhead" he looked up and smiled "Glad to have you with us, by the way." "We are glad to be here, captain! Best  of luck to you in curing those Malory has twisted with his Proteus, keep a lookout for their unconscious bodies!." Aleksander Solokov replied briskly with a smile, the unassuming and subdued physicist already changed into the relaxed and confident nuclear hero Protonik!

 

Getting up lightly on booted feet, the atomic paragon swung his arms to get his blood flowing "I'll follow your lead, comrades. I have relatively little experience with seizing submarines" he grinned almost impishly "But I think letting Britannia and Starlight take the CIC first might be a good plan. Don't worry about Russia's feelings, I think they despise these men as much as you do."

[Raveled]

Starlight stood and made her way to the open door -- or maybe it was a hatch. They were on a plane, but that plane was floating in the ocean like a boat. Did that change the terminology? The thought flashed through her mind and she shoved it aside; there'd be time for questions later, once Malory was safely in custody. She looked at Young Britannia and gave the woman a slight nod. "I shall meet you inside," she said, and that was all.

She stepped out of the plane and took off, the yellow-white glow of her mystic aura reflected in the water of the ocean as she skimmed just above the surface. Before long the bulk of the East heaved over the horizon and she dove, leaving a tall rooster-tail of water in her wake as she cut into the surface of the ocean, and then nothing at all as she sake deeper.

Under the waves it quickly grew cold; this was a fact she was aware of, like the searing heat of reentry or the crushing depths of a gas giant or the odd feeling of carrying a communication device inside her body, hooked up her inner ear from the inside. She was aware of it, but she didn't let it bother her as she approached the curving hull of the submarine. Once alongside she laid her hand on the hull and once again pondered cutting though it with her own cosmic energies, but that plan had been discarded. Instead she discorporated and a cloud of light assaulted the hull, seeking out any crack or seam. She didn't need to reform inside the sub's control room, she just needed to get inside.

[Ari]

GM

 

The Lightbearing alien soon found a thin crack in the submarine's hull. It was too narrow for any water to get in, but for living light? No obstacle!

 

The inside was as cramped and noisy as you'd expect such an old submarine to be, the engines thrumming and the distant calls of the crew ringing through the close quarters.

 

Starlight flitted inside just above a burly Mediterranean man checking through a rack of spear-guns. As she appeared he leaped back, staring up in awe and terror, jaw working up and down as he tried to master himself and yell an alarm!

 

 

[TheAbsurdist]

Shifted in the plan, a little uncomfortable in the suit. Though he hadn't sealed the helmet on yet, so as to not use his oxygen yet. He had been quiet for awhile now. Of course this is probably the longest he had gone without tapping away on his phone in... years? His arms were folded across his chest, shrugging his shoulders, and growling, just a little bit. Not liking the pressure suit at all.

 

"I stick to one hlal prohibition, and now I am a sausage. How droll."

Edited March 29, 2013 by TheAbsurdist

[Tiffany Korta]

Taking a deep breath Angus gave a big thumbs up and a confident smile, despite not feeling overly confident. But there was no way she was letting any of these people down.

Instead of flying down she took, what she hoped, looked like a graceful dive down into the water. Then she made her way towards the vessel by a mix of flying and swimming.

Once by the hull, and hopefully near to where Starlight had made her entrance, she began to concentration on the complicated job of convincing all her atoms they wanted to be the otherside of the hull.

[KnightDisciple]

Gabriel watched as one by one, the "forward teams" slipped from the helicopter. His eyes betrayed just a touch of worry; the plan was sound, but splitting up in these conditions meant they faced greater risk. His eyes closed for a moment, and he unconsciously put his hand near the rosary tucked inside his costume. A silent prayer passed his lips, before he opened his eyes and his voice reached out to the other heroes for just a moment. It was something they knew he could do, so it shouldn't shock them overmuch.

 

"Stay safe and go with God, everyone. Holler if you need backup, and we'll be there."

[Ari]

GM

The heroes were under way, with Silver Spider and Omen zipping over the tossing waves in near silence, the hovercraft thrumming faintly up to the looming ruddy-gray flanks of the East. It was the work of a moment for the pair to slip aboard quietly and unseen.

The decks were mostly deserted but for twelve of the crew relaxing on the walkway outside the bridge that sat on the stern, smoking and laughing cheerfully. Every now and then making exaggerated noises of terror, parodying one of the taller men in a poncho who laughed all the harder. All of them were armed with short carbines.

The ship had a great deal of cargo. Enough shipping containers to hold a small village were placed in neat rows with avenues wide enough for two to walk abreast. At the bow a sky-blue(in contrast to the current sky-black) tarp covered six tall and broad barrels.

---

Young Britannia materialized inside the sub with a flare of light, only a few meters from the frozen technician! From the rumbling bow a gruff voice barked in Russian <"Illy! Get those valves and come help us! We're surfacing in a moment, and I don't want us to have to bail because you didn't tighten a screw!">

The heavily bearded man tensed, and began to open his mouth for the shout of his life...
 

[Ari]

GM

 

"So, since we're waiting on those ladies..." Protonik frowned uncertainly "Well, I'm assuming Starlight is a lady. She seems a little alien for that however." Clearing his throat the nuclear paragon went on "We talked a little on the flight here but we still don't know much about each other. Gabriel!" he smiled brightly at the holy mutant "What kinds of jokes do you like? I prefer ones about Sherlock Holmes and Watson myself, they're always good ground! For example:" he leaned forward, resting his gloved hands on his powerful thighs, the Russian super all smiles. "Holmes and Watson are investigating a case involving stolen rubies, and they have had to round up half a dozen people from a large household. During the questioning, Holmes discovers that most of the servants are mute, and are thus wholly unhelpful. As the questioning drags on Watson walks in just as another man is being sent out for being mute, takes one look at him and forces his mouth open, and out spill some of the stolen rubies! It turns out the servants had been carrying the gems in their mouths all along, and the case solved Holmes and Watson begin to go back home to Baker Street. On the ride home Holmes asks Watson "My dear Watson, how did you realize their secret?" "Simple, my dear Holmes" Watson replies "I worked in a hospital. Something like that happened every day!""

 

Aleksander exploded with laughter as the pilots in the cabin groaned almost in unison, which both of the remaining heroes heard just barely.

[Tiffany Korta]

She had expected trouble the moment she’d arrived on the vessel, but it didn’t  mean she was looking for trouble right of the bat. And in her experience the lower down the order you were the less loyal to the cause you tended to be, and now was a good a time as any to test the theory.

She put a finger to her lip before speaking to him in fluent Russian

<â€I not here looking for trouble from you or your people. Why not just let me pass through unharmed and no one will get harmed here.â€> it wasn’t intended or phased as a threat.

[Ari]

GM

 

The man stopped short, looking up at the glowing Englishwoman with suspicion blazing in his eyes, then he nodded slowly. In the same language he muttered <"Go on. A super on the bridge, one of that Motley's creatures. He might not listen so well as me.">

 

With that he turned and walked quickly back down the boat, calling <"All right! We need half that crew at the engines, detecting some pressure buildup there!"> cutting off an abortive question he snapped <"No time! If we leave it we're in trouble, let's go."> In answer to his terse shout the tramp of other feet was heard further down just out of sight, a few bulky forms making their rapid way to the stern past the dim lights. The man paused for a second to make signs urging Young Britannia and Starlight to hurry.

[Tiffany Korta]

Agnus gave the worker and little smile.

“Dosvedanya.â€

Whilst the engineer lead everyone away she thumbed her communicator and whispered to Starlight.

“Seems our best bet is to head to the Bridge, at least one of the Power’s is up there. Shall I meet you up there?â€

Whilst she awaiting any kind of answer she began to carefully make her around the vessel, keeping as much to the shadows as anyone with a glowing aura could. It was dialed down to it’s mere minimum but it still cast a faint glow in the shadows.

[KnightDisciple]

GM

 

"So, since we're waiting on those ladies..." Protonik frowned uncertainly "Well, I'm assuming Starlight is a lady. She seems a little alien for that however." Clearing his throat the nuclear paragon went on "We talked a little on the flight here but we still don't know much about each other. Gabriel!" he smiled brightly at the holy mutant "What kinds of jokes do you like? I prefer ones about Sherlock Holmes and Watson myself, they're always good ground! For example:" he leaned forward, resting his gloved hands on his powerful thighs, the Russian super all smiles. "Holmes and Watson are investigating a case involving stolen rubies, and they have had to round up half a dozen people from a large household. During the questioning, Holmes discovers that most of the servants are mute, and are thus wholly unhelpful. As the questioning drags on Watson walks in just as another man is being sent out for being mute, takes one look at him and forces his mouth open, and out spill some of the stolen rubies! It turns out the servants had been carrying the gems in their mouths all along, and the case solved Holmes and Watson begin to go back home to Baker Street. On the ride home Holmes asks Watson "My dear Watson, how did you realize their secret?" "Simple, my dear Holmes" Watson replies "I worked in a hospital. Something like that happened every day!""

 

Aleksander exploded with laughter as the pilots in the cabin groaned almost in unison, which both of the remaining heroes heard just barely.

Gabriel gives some polite laughter, despite not really grasping the punchline of the joke. Protonik seemed like a solid sort of fellow, all told.

 

"I'm afraid I'm not quite as good at stand-up as some people that I know, and even then, most of my jokes are about the English, or occasionally the Scottish or Americans. Any Russian jokes I know are second-hand at best, really."

 

He gave a winning smile to the Russian hero to accompany his "helpless" shrug.

[Raveled]

Starlight was impressed by Young Britannia's handling of the situation. She didn't even know that her friend could speak Russian, and it seemed her words had the desired effect. The Lightbringer lifted into the air and sped along beside Young Britannia for a distance, then suddenly fell back. "I shall take a different route," she said. "With luck, I should be to draw some of their attention away from you, making it easier for you to approach the bridge unseen."

Edited April 22, 2013 by Raveled

[TheAbsurdist]

Asad fidgeted, he didn't like the suit.  He didn't like the prospect of being under that much water.  He was not a particularly good swimmer, especially when he had who knows how much water between him and the surface.  "All I have are Yakov Smirnoff jokes, and honestly I should not be subjecting anyone to that, should I?"  He laughed a little as he picked up the helmet.  Asad was keenly aware he was a bruiser for this.  And his tactical acumen lagged behind the others, but he didn't find that to be upsetting, as he was adaptable and understanding of these things, at least as much as possible.

 

"And all the good Russian jokes I know are darker than my beard, and most of my other jokes are either tasteless or a little risque."  Flashing a bit of a grin as he looked out of the window of the plane.

[Ari]

GM

 

The unknown man hurried away, herding the other sailors before him and past the bridge as quickly as possible. His urgent words and hurried gestures made sure that the two heroes made quick time deeper into the sub's dim passageways, soon reaching the cramped and extremely tense bridge that hadn't seen better days since Khrushchev left office.

 

The place was ill-lit by the blazing blue screens detailing the submarine's surrounding for the crouched, sitting or leaning crew watching them like hawks. There were twelve of them, every man-jack of them looking extremely grim, seaworthy and armed with various harpoon-like weapons fitted with strange reddish vials on the missiles. Prowling around the slightly raised rectangle in the center was a viciously lean man naked to the waist, black eyes roaming the bridge as he carried on a terse conversation under his breath with the crew as his pale shadow flitted over them. His body wavered every now and then, like it wasn't quite all real. At any rate the crew and their strange captain were extremely busy making sure the sub reached the surface unhindered, with one of the older men grumbling <"Foolish, rising this close to the ship, we could play right into the enemy's hands..."> but he hastily got back to work when the creature's glance turned his way, and his terminal wavered too.

 

 

[Raveled]

Starlight was surprised at how roomy the submarine was inside. It wasn't going to induce agoraphobia in anyone, but she was familiar with the machines from movies set in and about World War II; she was expecting a hollow tube filled with dirty men, with sweating metal pipes, groaning under the pressure. This was a modern machine, though, and while the hallways weren't broad they were clean and most of the plumbing was hidden behind faux-wood paneling. It was a lot more comfortable than some starships Starlight had been on, that was certain.

 

All of this went through her head as Starlight prowled the corridors, heading up and towards bigger and bigger corridors. She saw a large, dark room ahead and ignited a ball of sunlight there, casting bright light about the bridge. As all eyes turned to her, she nodded slightly at the half-naked man. "You can surface now," she said simply, "or I can punch you through the hull and you shall never surface. Choose."

[Tiffany Korta]

<“What my good friend is trying in elegantly to convey...â€>

Agnus stepped up beside her friend and gave the alien woman a smile and a friendly nod.

<“Is that unless you surrender your vessel immediately we’ll have to take action to stop your operations.â€> she looked around the spacious submarine <“It would be a awful shame if this wonderful vessel got damaged.â€>

She turned back to Starlight and dropped her voice, waiting for the unlikely chance they would actually consider surrendering “I’m guessing we’re going for the normal plan. Hit anything that’s a problem and then sort everything out?â€

[Ari]

GM

 

The crew froze, staring in terror by turns at the light-wielding alien and the patriotic paragon as they appeared and made their studied and very clear threat. The super was less obviously shaken, but he pursed his lips and replied <"Well then...that might take a little doing...">

 

Several minutes later...

 

"This is much more spacious than I remember!" Protonik called out cheerfully over the ringing metal, carrying the man he'd just disarmed and winded over to the others, tearing off a strip of metal to deftly tie the Overthrow agent's arms behind his back.

 

The dock indeed looked several feet higher and wider than it had appeared on the schematic, a square of windowless reinforced gray metal lit harshly from every angle. The submarine fit very neatly, standing a few feet above the rest of the cluttered deck filled with crates, control panels for the small yellow cranes lined neatly against the wall beside a broad staircase.

 

"Alright, now I believe you were to go first, Mr. al-Misri? Shield us with your tremendous absorbing powers?" the nuclear man smiled pleasantly at Asad "I will be right behind you!" he let a burst of green energy curl up from his mouth "Let me know if anyone hurts you too badly, or if something looks unsteady. No need to take more risks than we have to."

 

The way downstairs was as cramped as could be imagined, the path to Mr. Motley's sanctum running down unnervingly blind corridors, sharp corners and cushioned floors meaning it was all too easy to miss anyone lying in wait for them. Luckily nobody was quite that foolish, Gabriel detecting the frantic passage of several people away from them as they approached each bend. Always downward, though. None of them were going to give up the creator of Proteus without a fight. AEGIS's information held true, and Starlight easily found the emergency lockdown controls. A simple pull of the heavy lever started a deep klaxon that reverberated through the submerged structure, at the same time a recorded voice crisply began ordering everyone up to the docks, orders followed by approximately no-one.

 

It was when the group of heroes marched into the open central hall of the living quarters that their luck fell hard. Right in front of them stood ten unarmed men and women, each of them visibly abnormal somehow, from fiery eyes to green, slimy skin to a head that looked very much like a black hole. Behind them stood as many Overthrow soldiers, their rifles aimed straight at Asad's red chest.

 

<"Turn back"> said a man who seemed to be constantly vibrating <"You can't beat this many of us at once and you know it. We-we need him here, to give us the strength to overthrow the Old World Order!">

Edited May 7, 2013 by Arichamus

[Ari]

GM

 

"My friend, you need nobody but yourself to be strong!" Protonik exclaimed with a kind smile at the trembling man, even while his eyes took on a bluish-green gleam "But since you attach yourself so closely to this criminal band that you accept its garbage as holy gospel, have some of this!"

 

With a flash two rays of cold light leapt from his eyes and struck a woman beside Shiver whose skin glistened like iron, slamming her into the wall in a smoking heap.

 

"Friends, let us not waste this advantage!" the Russian called as he jumped into the air, angled to shield the white-clad sonic controller at the first sign of danger "Battle is joined!"

 

 

 

 

[KnightDisciple]

Gabriel's eyes swept over the situation for a brief moment, even as he re-aligned his powers subconsciously. What used to take a deliberate thought was, by this point, essentially a reflex. Even as he picked out his target, he took a few steps to one side to make sure his companions had clear lines of attack. He seemed unconcerned by the danger around him, instead almost leisurely pointing at the man who was vibrating.

 

"You're half right. This is an unfair fight."

 

A bolt of sound energy slammed into the man's left shoulder.

 

"There's not nearly enough of you."

 

Two more slammed the other shoulder and both knees.

 

"Plus, I'm not a two-bit wannabe vibration controller."

 

Three more bolts of sound slammed directly into his face with enough force to knock him out and probably send him careening back. 

[Ari]

GM

 

The shivering man was sent flying backwards and into the wall behind him, slamming against it with a harsh sound of metal on bone and then collapsing. Even before he hit the ground however, the others mutated by the Proteus compound were making their own moves.

 

One, his skin slimy and green and head grotesquely swollen, hurled himself at Gabriel, the man's arms suddenly extending as they swung around the holy sound controller in loops of iron...only for those arms to close on Protonik instead as the nuclear man seemed to simply appear inside the coils, replacing Gabriel in a red/brown blur. The froglike man gave a baffled exclamation in Czech, but grinned in triumph as his arms and legs completely surrounded Aleksander, his expression suddenly changing to one of horror as his foe swept him off with a brisk reprimand in Russian and a jarring swing of his arms!

 

Two others, the man who resembled a black hole and a woman who appeared to be mostly composed of snakes, turned their attention to Young Britannia's patriotic self. <"Your ruling monsters shall be dethroned!"> thundered the man in Greek, as his body suddenly emitted a roiling current of gravity that slammed into her with...surprisingly less force than seemed right. <"Death to nationalism!"> bellowed the woman in Protuguese as all the serpent's heads swung around to glare at her...and spat several streams of clear venom at her eyes!

 

"Your family put mine our of business, al-Misri!" snarled a tall Finnish man whose skin glowed with an internal furnace, his opened mouth letting loose a blast of radiation and fire that crashed into Asad like a wave of solar death, a dark-haired and cold-eyed man leaping out of the pack to swing his arms at the energy-absorber, his arms elongating into two mighty steel cords that crashed against his skin like whips. While those two attacked, another man left the pack to hurl himself the billionaire, flying across the room in a red streak and punching Asad savagely in the throat, slamming his hands and feet into the floor to stop himself from moving, his body thrumming audibly with kinetic power.

 

"Guys, we can't let ourselves get distracted! We gotta keep them from Mr. Motley!" The last two hung back, one turning some of the air around the attacking squad to watery ropes, and looping it quickly around them, the liquid bonds striving to pin them all together. A previously unseen shadow jumped up from the floor, quickly forming himself into a sphere of darkness that hid most of the mutates from sight.

[Raveled]

Starlight stayed calm in the face of the hurricane of combat. She closed her eyes, rising into the air as the air condensed around the group. Wet fingers reached for her and snagged her legs, but the alien champion had other ideas. "You call upon the darkness to shield yourselves," she said, "but what you have failed to consider is -- the power I wield is of THE LIGHT!" She opened her eyes, gold-white light blazing forth as her power rolled forth. It slammed into Umbra's shadows and cut them to pieces before blowing them away in ragged stripes, leaving the malformed metahumans exposed.

[Ari]

GM

 

Mere minutes later...

 

The heroes, a little bruised but otherwise unharmed, burst into the bottom chamber, beholding the sight of a drawn, pale man seated before a table crammed with chemistry equipment, listlessly reading a red-bordered stack of paper. Around the room stood massive tanks marked "Nitrogen" and "Oxygen" in Russian, attached at their inputs to tanks of what had become known as the Proteus mutagen. The walls were windowless, but even through them the massive weight of water could be felt. At the far end of the room was a small, reinforced airlock that by the looks of it hadn't been touched.

 

Looking up as the steel door crashed to the floor, Mister Motley surveyed the heroes for a second them rose in a smooth motion. Raising his hands he said in a quiet, beaten voice "You're here. I guess that means the ones I empowered failed. I had to use up the last few drops of my compound to bring them to our level, so I suppose this is the end...for now at least." He began walking slowly towards them, hands still held high as his skin began shifting rapidly from pale to deep red, twisting into abstract claws as his eyes and hands erupted with an inner golden light that turned most of his body transparent, only for that light to start bending in on itself as heat seemed to drain from the room around him. A pale blue light glowed from his mouth as he added drily, voice rising and falling seemingly at random

 

"I surrender. There is nothing else for me to do here, and I have no chance against so many of you at once."

 

His every muscle seemed slack in defeat.