ic Mission of Mercy(IC)

[Blue Rose]

At the sight of Tona murdering a man in a burst of base rage, Sam tries to call out, but hasn't the breath to be heard over the mass of people and fury. She rises to her feet, staggers towards her girlfriend, only to be intercepted by Tona's father, lifting the tired girl off her feet and rushing her away, through the portal.

There's a welcome party, a rush of people, but she doesn't care. All she sees is Tona driving an arrow into a man's eye, murder in her gaze. Mr. Baudin sets her down at a distance from the rest, tries to get her to support herself, but instead, she just flops on her belly, brand still sizzling, resting and nursing dark thoughts of people she'd seen burnt out from that kind of rage.

[Tiffany Korta]

Blodeuwedd only paused very briefly in her actions drawing Dyrnwyn and stepping forwards to put herself between the forces of Terminus and the refugee.

 

“We don’t kill people only monster right? And I know you’re going to insist he was a monster, from what I know they all are. Just remember that it doesn’t go beyond this I won’t let you harm innocents I will stop you stepping over that line. And I’ve unfortunately I’ve done it before.â€

 

She remained neutral as she said this she didn’t even want to imagining harming her friend, especially as she thought she’d done it before.

[Ari]

GM

"I do not wish to intrude, zelles," shouted Silex over the thunderous havoc of the whirling, crackling channel of death racing for the shrinking island of what had once been Earth "but I think the time for such niceties is after the daring escape!"

Glancing over his shoulder, the uniformed young man saw the sky tilting and eddying crazily as the vanishing planetoid was spun out of its orbit. Examining the body of the Steam General draped over his platform's railing, Silex nodded in satisfaction and made a few more delicate incisions before maneuvering his craft over the portal.

"You know, I'll just tell you anyway. It's not important, but might be handy, who knows? Anyway, you see this? This portal? This artificial bridge between your world and Omega's? Please don't try to use something like this again. Ever. You won't like the result, which may or may not be to open a gateway into that." Silex gestured to the Doom-Coil "Just a friendly warning. Oh!" Snapping his fingers, he quickly bent over the stiffening body for a moment, his body silhouetted against the Coil as he pocketed something after a flash of his knife.

"And before I forget, there is one more matter." By now the wind had risen to hurricane levels, the Coil a Sun-like pillar of dark fire, all light bending towards it and leaving the world in shadow. Tossing the body that had once been that world's oppressor into the Tunnel, the Annhilist tapped a few buttons on a nearby control panel, his eyes and gloves reflecting its stark white glare. The Omegadrones floating nearby started, and as one soared for the iron-skinned monstrosity of Nhilor gaping above like diseased skull. By now, the world was reduced to a mass of darkness, the flames of Dyrnwyn, the lights in the platform, the onrushing torrent of the Doom-Coil and the howling Terminus Tunnel with Sanctuary dimly visible. The very ground felt light and fragile, and the treetops lashed against the wind heralding the inexorable tide.

"Do come by again. Oblivion for Omega."

[Ari]

GM

Suddenly leaping into action, Tess started handing out small metallic buttons on velcro straps, explaining hurriedly "They're speaking French(or at least a dialect) and these should help-dear Darwin more than nine thousand what have we done-with communication. Just press the button while you speak and the soundwaves are modulated. All right, okay. Clan." Glancing at her siblings she said, not loud very clear "We're in this until it's over. I'll let Grandpa know about what has happened, he can help get our schedules cleared while we sort out the population boom."

"Well duh. Like I'd miss the chance to help people from the frickin' Terminus so I can hammer at the blog." Vickie seemed to have taken the drastic change in the situation well in hand, the unusually energetic Atom tapping at a small panel on her shirt sleeve to bring up an email display, her suddenly-multiplied fingers rapidly typing out a message "Leave Doc-Gramps to me, Tess, lemme know if there's anything I can do."

Chase nodded once when questioned with a look from his sister. "I'll inform Gaian Knight and Gabriel. A voice in their heads is the last thing they need. If we start a panic it would take a long time to stop."

"We had no idea it would be this many people, Fleur" Max explained to their host, the brawny man looking crestfallen "Blue Jay's village must have gotten a lot of outsiders together for the escape. I don't blame them, but still." Squaring his shoulders, the Atom added resolutely "We'll do everything we can to help get these refugees set up. For a start me and Tess'll get some shelters up for the animals and a few preliminary structures for anyone who doesn't have a tent, cart or lean-to to call their own." Taking another look at the now-subdued mob, some of whom were having trouble keeping jubilant oxen, sheep and goats under control as their massed fellows watched the Tunnel with bated breath, his frown lightened "Hey! Looks like somebody's decided they want a meet the new neighbors too."

Across the carpet of greenery, a rugged, unkempt middle-aged man with a limp approached the other group of people, a familiar red-headed body over his shoulders. A tall, lean woman in an identical style with grey hair scraped back into a ponytail marched beside them, eyes darting over the strange village in an appraising manner and coming up to a very favorable conclusion if a quick, warm smile that stole briefly over her lips meant anything.

Stopping a few yards from the box Fleur was on, the woman bowed, the man following suit as he lay Kit into a more or less comfortable place on the field. <"Lady, my name is Leda, I guide these people. We thank you from the depths of our hearts for rescuing us. We'll live anywhere you have room, and work our hands to the bone to make our burden on you light. Thanks to you and the young ones, we are free at last."> At the word 'free', a few tears slid down her nose and onto the grass. Raising his curly head a little, the graying rogue beamed up at their hostess <"I am Robert Baudin. My daughter, the little archer bird, told me some snatches about this place. But the full glory..."> looking out over the pleasant land and the rich forests, he shook his head <"...I could not imagine this. Truly we are rescued from Hell.">

Suddenly he started and turned his attention back to Kit, checking her pulse with a skillful finger and looking grave <"This one, my daughter's darling, got us to the meeting place, but she's burnt herself out, she needs help-"> he jerked backwards with a cry of alarm as a glowing platform of nucleonic energy snapped into place below Kit, whisking her a foot in the air.

"It's alright! Don't be alarmed, she'll be fine. I'm sorry, just..nerves." Tess Atom steered the small platform over to her side, a glow covering her skin as she too lifted off "I'll be straight back, Max, Mz. Madison, just getting her to the infirmary." With that the elder Atom flew off with the Hell-born escape artist.

Blinking her eyes slowly, Leda asked, uncertainty glimmering in her eyes <"Is...that common here?"> Her tone strongly implied she hoped not.

Edited September 19, 2014 by Arichamus

[Electra]

"Not at all," Fleur assured Leda, her lips thinning for a moment in frustration. "Typically when we have injured people, we don't fly them away from the healer, for one thing. But if she's just exhausted, she should be all right at the village infirmary for now. Max, Chase, can you help out with those animals before we have a mass breakout? We haven't got any pasture fenced out yet, they'll wind up in somebody's living room."

 

Gathering her wits, Fleur looked around at the massed people. "Okay! Ten thousand people. We can manage this, it'll just be a little bit scattershot for the first little while. Leda, if you could have anyone who is sick or injured brought here so we can help them, that's the first step. Then, if you can, get people to form up into family groups, all the people who are going to live in the same household, so we can get an idea how many shelters we'll need. Once people are grouped up, we'll start distributing supplies, and I'll get on the food issue. Where's Blue Jay?' she asked suddenly, looking around at the milling crowds. 

[Raveled]

Blue Jay was still in the Terminus. She had begun to fire on the drones down almost by reflex, but soon it become evident that the drones were not attacking. They were in fact leaving, and soon it was just Silex, the heroes, and a few fighters who stayed behind to to safeguard the crowd. It was an eerie moment, made all the weirder by the backdrop o the Doom Coil sucking up her planet in the distance. Well, not so distant at all, actually...

Jay kept retreating, keeping between the shrinking crowd of refugees and the watching figure. She felt the hair on her arms and the back of her neck stand up, goosebumps racing across her flesh as the strong, quiet moment stretched and stretched. The archer kept expecting a sudden explosion of violence, which just didn't come. And finally, there were no more refugees to herd through; just a few marksmen who stayed back to protect the crowd against a threat that never materialized, and the heroes from Earth. Blue Jay felt her stomach unknotting; they might all just get through this alive!

She stood at the gateway, arrow still nocked, and waved the others through the portal ahead of her. "Crimson, Boldeuwodd," she called, gesturing towards the bright tunnel that lead to Sanctuary. "It is time to leave here!"

Edited September 21, 2014 by Raveled

[Ari]

GM

The three heroines emerged into the dazzling light of day, jabbing eyes grown used to the unlight of the Doom Coil like lances. As the world of Sanctuary reasserted itself and the Terminus Tunnel spiraled shut, Blue Jay, Crimson Tiger and Blodeuwedd found themselves surrounded by a cheering, crying and overjoyed crowd.

The tribes rushed for their saviors, hoisting the girls onto their shoulders and carrying them in triumph for the platform, following their de facto leaders(only just now realizing they'd gone), and gratefully letting Chase and Maximus handle their suddenly much more docile livestock.

"This is so humiliating," Chase grumbled out of Fleur's earshot, eyes glowing gold as he placed the tips of two fingers to his forehead and holding his other hand outstretched "my power of mind-control is supposed to be for emergencies, matters of life and death, not...this!" At his mental command, the small herds of sheep, cattle and goats trundled off for the appropriate pastures, Maximus watching over them in giant size, ghostly fingers reaching down to pluck the young from harm's way and raise temporary walls out of the dirt to keep the animals in place. Watching the livestock get their bearings in their new home, Max gently chided his brother "Don't be like that, buddy, without your power it'd take more than twenty people to get all these animals put away. Now c'mon, lots to do!"

Tess reappeared after less than a minute's round trip. "Kit's exhausted herself" she reported, touching down near the near the box "but she should be all right in a few hours." Catching sight of the archer heroine she waved excitedly "Welcome back, Blue Jay, Tiger, Agent Blodeuwedd! Holy Hagen, it's good to see you all in one piece. And...so many people! Won't ask how or why right now, but if you could help us get all these people sorted out..."

After that, it was all hustle and bustle. With Victoria and Tesla's help, getting those old, weak, sick or injured enough to need care away from the main group was a cinch, the shapeshifter deftly weaving through the crowd and locating people mentioned and described by Leda so the energy controller could hoist them clear of the teeming mass of vibrant and rustic humanity. Luckily only a handful, less than three hundred, were in such a state. It was hard to grow old in the Terminus. With a handy gizmo developed on their extraterrestrial adventures, Tesla checked the refugees exhaustively for any hidden signs of disease that would require temporary quarantine or more lengthy treatment.

With that the laborious process of setting up a preliminary encampment began. While Leda and Robert Baudin knew their tribe's faces and names by heart, they were totally lost about the other tribes, making the split-ups slow going even with psychic assistance. In the absence of Gaian Knight Maximus and Tesla Atom expanded the low sod houses with extra earth and transmuted(nucleonic energy turned out to be good at changing compounds) stone. Meanwhile the heroines and younger Atoms helped make sure nobody got lost in the shuffle, which in a crowd of just-freed Terminus refugees was a considerable task, one made more difficult by the insistence on the part of the new arrivals that they start exploring right then. From Hell they'd come to Paradise, and wanted to drink it in with their new freedom.

The day wore on, until at last almost everyone had been sorted into their new homes, well-fed and tired after the biggest day of their lives. The Atoms had gone back to the Goodman Building to get supplies for a longer stay on Sanctuary, and for the first time in long hours it was quiet again. The four heroines and Fleur were seemingly the only ones still awake.

Edited September 27, 2014 by Arichamus

[KnightDisciple]

For many moments, the only sounds around the heroines was the breeze, and the faint sounds of exhausted people talking here and there. Then, there was a hum, like a choir warming up its vocal chords. If anyone there looked toward where the sound came from, they would see a figure in bright white and silver, glinting in the fading sunlight, arms spread a bit as a cloak rippled about their person. An almost angelic figure...

 

Wait, no, it was just the hero Gabriel. He landed softly on the ground, walking over with a smile on his face.

 

"Ladies, good afternoon. I'm terribly sorry I couldn't come sooner."

 

He gave a helpless shrug.

 

"League had me helping in some rather tense negotiations. Thankfully everyone stayed calm and work out a solution, but you know how it goes. I got word from the brothers a few hours ago, but only just managed to get here now. I truly am sorry I wasn't able to help earlier. The brothers are putting together some care packages now that they'll be bringing out tomorrow, and we're working with the brothers on Earth-Prime to get more emergency supplies routed out here. It's not as much as we'd like as soon as we would like, but we're trying to keep all of this fairly discreet. Plus it's hard to determine what's needed beyond the basics that we have until a few of them come take a look at everything. Oh! By the way, they said the infirmary at the hill is open if we've got anyone else who needs help. I know the Atoms brought at least a few patients over, but it's one of those things that can get a bit muddled, especially when we've got the one you recently set up, Fleur."

 

He certainly had a way with speaking words, but didn't seem exhausted at all by it. He gave the four young heroines another dazzling smile, offering a hand to shake to whichever might be bravest.

 

"Where are my manners! I don't believe I've had the pleasure, ladies. You can call me Gabriel. Anything I can do to help right now? Or will I just be playing switchboard operator for a few days?"

 

The whole thing might be a touch confusing for those who lacked context on who the "brothers" were, what the "hill" was, and just what it was Gabriel could do, one might suppose. 

[Raveled]

When the portal closed in front of her and the Terminus was closed off forever, she couldn't manage to relax. Maybe it was because she had been denied a climactic fight with the General, maybe it was because of this new player, Silex -- maybe it was because she had been fighting the Terminus her entire life and couldn't quite believe it was over. For whatever reason, she wasn't ready to relax and consider the war won.

Jay peeked in on Sam, but she was resting peacefully and as much as Tona wanted to sit by her girlfriend's side there was lots of work to do in order to settle all the refugees. By the time Gabriel showed up, she was already sore and sweating when Gabriel swooped out of the sky and introduced himself. If she had been more rested when he showed p she might have reacted more strongly, but all she did was shrug and point to some of the earthen habitats. "There are some people around that no one can understand," she said. "Try to see if they understand you."

[KnightDisciple]

Gabriel just smiled at Jay as she spoke up. 

 

"Of course, it would be my pleasure. I'll let you know what they're speaking, too, so that we can hopefully get some translators in here. As I said, I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner, but the brothers are getting the first of the aid packets put together now, so those will be out here shortly."

 

With a bow and a smile to all present, Gabriel turned and moved in the direction Blue Jay had indicated, greeting anyone he met with a warm smile and a hello, while also asking around for the location of those who could not be understood by most or any of those present. Once given a direction, he would move toward that person or people. With his powers of communication, figuring out not only what was going on but what language they spoke would be comparatively easy. 

[Electra]

As day turned into evening, Fleur began gently herding the more adventurous refugees back in the direction of the encampment, her powers more than sufficient to let her track down even the furthest wanderers. There was little on Sanctuary that could actually hurt them, but it would be easy to get lost in the darkness once the sun set. She assured them that there'd be plenty of time and opportunity to see all of Sanctuary in the coming days (though preferably, she thought privately, after she'd had a chance to talk with the existing village and the bees about the startling influx of new neighbors.) She managed to have a few words with the leaders of the first village while she was collecting Amaryllis from the creche, but there was a lot of talking still to be done. Nobody came right out and said it, but Stesha knew they were worried about getting the short shrift now that they were so incredibly outnumbered by the outsiders. 

 

With her green-haired daughter clinging to her hand and chattering about everything she'd done that day, Stesha teleported once more to the village, seeking out the young heroines who spearheaded the escape efforts. Smiling tiredly at them, she handed Tona a radio. "I'm heading home for the evening, but call me if anything happens that you need help with and I can be right over. That was good work today from all of you. Try and get some rest." 

[Tiffany Korta]

Whilst Blodeuwedd had taken to city life like a fish to water she had grown up in a little village not dissimilar to the world she now found herself. Though even in the wilds of Wales they had running water and electricity. So with her blade cast to one side and all her technology abandoned she happily pitched in to help the newcomers to get settled into their new homes.

She wasn’t exactly avoiding the other heroes pitching in, but she wasn’t exactly tracking them down either. Truth be told heroes of this caliber were slightly intimidating even to Blodeuwedd.

 

After a several hour happily pitching in to help she set out to find her friends to make sure that everyone was okay.

[Ari]

GM

With a few last words the women separated, all thoroughly drained from the rescue of a dying people from the mouth of destruction, and their new settlement on a world in renewal. Many of the newcomers had opted to lie on top of their roofs over sleeping indoors, watching the sky flooded with stars and blazing with a brilliant silver moon, letting themselves be swept up in the reality that, for the first time in all their lives, they lived in peace.

The chatter of birds and faint crackling underbrush started in the night now and then, but most of the tribespeople were too tried to wake up more than twice at the unfamiliar sounds. Two by two, nearly twenty thousand eyes closed in faster and deeper sleep than they had ever known. A couple of the very old remained up long after the rest, murmuring speculation and dry observations about their new home. Looking out at the vast fields, the slender forests, and thinking of the people asleep around them in the earthen shelters, they saw a future worth hoping for.

Leda dreamed a confused jumble, the businesslike woman already fretting n her sleep over all that needed doing. The animals would need to be treated somehow, in case they had brought something over that might infect their hosts' herds, from what little she'd heard and managed to grasp from the talk of the village leaders the tribes would need to learn how to focus on farming over hunting, and that didn't even begin to match how much water they'd need...

But at least now there was more than tomorrow, days stretching off into infinity, and plenty of time to find out hoe they could repay their hosts for the good they'd done.

The Atoms slept too, Tesla's mind floating on nucleonic currents within the networks of Dr. Atom's digitized self, the young woman tirelessly unraveling what they would need to do to give the refugees a running start.

And out in the woods behind the portal clearing, Robert Baudin crouched over the forgotten body of the Steam General. His eyes silently traced over the marks carved into the desecrated corpse, the silver light giving him more than enough to read what Silex had written on his rival.

'Merci pour vorte aide, M. Baudin!' Below that ran a short sequence of numbers and the terse order 'Signal'.

Shuddering, Robert took out a small black disk from his jacket's pocket. With trembling hands, he put in on the body's forehead, watching as thin arms slid out from it to embrace the body beneath. Soon the thing had formed a sleek black cocoon that was warm to the touch, and with a noiseless, odorless 'flash' of darkness, the corpse was consumed. Retracting, the disk resumed its normal appearance, leaving only a thin pile of dust where its occupant had been. A soft red light gleamed in the center, showing a raised ridge of symbols. Numbers, waiting be pressed.

A flash of white steel, and the thing sputtered and hissed into useless black wreckage. Digging with his knife, Robert buried the pieces of the device and began limping back to the village, a profound relief welling in his heart, and a smile playing on his lips. "Never again," he whispered "will I pull you out of the fire, boy. You chose to serve death, I've chosen life. And you said we had no future."

Passing through the village like a ghost, Robert threw himself onto an unclaimed pile of sheepskins, and drifted off to sleep.

END