ic Welcome to Earth

[Raveled]

Tuesday, June 3rd, 2013

Freedom City, New Jersey

Lunchtime

Rachel Coletta had chosen to take her lunch on the outside deck of Stan's Super Heroes, enjoying the warm weather now that it had come to Freedom City. She wasn’t particularly happy with her next assignment, covering a battle-of-the-bands style concert that was full of glorified cover bands. She knew that as the cub she would get all the stories no one else wanted, but it didn’t mean she was happy about it.

To take her mind off things, she was indulging in a couple of her favorite vices; a big meal and people-watching with malicious intent. It was almost comical to see the small woman pick up the Atlas And All and try to fit a single bite into her mouth, but Rachel’s attention was more focused on the people walking around her. A woman in a trendy dress, swinging a bag from a Freedom City fashion house crossed the street; Rachel imagined that she was a secret shopper for a competing Los Angeles brand, scoping out the competition. She let her imagination run wild as she devoured the burger, and all too soon she realized her plate was empty.

Rachel was pondering a cup of soup or salad to go when a piercing scream rose above the streets. She covered her ears, along with everyone else, but it didn’t seem to help; the scream deepened to a rumble in her gut, and centered itself high in the sky. She looked up, and saw a blazing something move rapidly towards the western horizon. It seemed to pass directly overhead, with a noise that set off car alarms and rattled windows, before disappearing over the horizon.

The reporter left money pinned under her plate and dashed towards an alleyway, taking advantage of the confusion and found a dark corner. Her over-large purse opened and a form-fitting purple-and-orange costume floated out; Rachel’s hair shivered snake-like as it unwound from its long braid, and her clothes and her costume proceeded in opposite directions.

In moments, Maelstrom rose from the alleyway, cape and hair floating behind her on the breeze and in the wake of her power. She made sure her purse was well-locked and stashed it on a rooftop, then headed north, towards the river. She meant to investigate whatever that was, but first she had to pick up someone. Nathaniel! Did you just hear that?

Edited June 19, 2014 by Raveled

[KnightDisciple]

Will had been finishing up getting the back yard fertilized and such (using one of those wheelbarrow contraptions that you had to move so. Dang. Slow!) when he heard, and then saw, the strange event outside. He blinked...and then grinned.

 

A dash into the garage stowed the fertlizer thingy, and then another blur of motion saw him leaving a note stuck to the fridge.

 

 

Investigating giant ship crash.

Back by dinner for sure, totally.

-Will

 

And then he was blurring into his costume and racing along the streets! His strides ate up the ground beneath him, and it didn't take long before he was leaving the heart of the city behind and reaching the very furthest outskirts of the city. He'd be in the forest and at the crash site in just a few more eye-blinks....

[horngeek]

Haukea was already on her way.  Her family had been in the same general area as where the crash seemed to have actually... well, landed... and she quickly used her ring to don her costume, before starting to fly towards the crash site, thinking as she went.  She hoped that some other superheroes would be there- while she could certainly keep stuff propped up once it was up, she wasn't so sure about lifting heavy debris in the first place, and that might be needed...

 

Her next thought was spoken aloud.  "What made it crash, anyway?"

 

That was definitely a concern... after all, there was the distinct possibility that something malicious had brought the spacecraft down, in which case...

 

This would be trickier than just a rescue operation.  

 

Stronghold picked up her pace, trying to get to the crash site as quickly as possible...

[Ari]

Resting his burning head on a blessedly-cool slab of rock, the young man named Nathan Colletta('Nathaniel' to those who humored him) was watching the sky and its flocks of clouds idly from Freedom City University's elegant garden path, lost in an academic reverie. His broad shoulders hunched forward, with powerful arms supporting his head and his neatly combed black hair stirred gently in the breeze, Nathan looked a little like some unusually lazy classical sculpture.

 

'...And if you change the apparent trigger of an implicit memory, then the patient themself should-the hell is that?!'

His unfocused eyes took a second to catch it, and his far-off mind was surprisingly good at blocking out things that broke his train of thought, but the screeching, howling noise that suddenly filled the air was impossible to ignore! Jumping to his feet, careless of the papers the explosion of movement sent flying, Nathan stared up, slack-jawed and and blue eyes almost staring out of his head as the comet-like thing screamed over the city. He watched it as long as he could until it vanished behind the distant trees, unable to move thanks to what felt like iron bands holding him fixed to the ground. All around him he felt a buzz as the minds of almost everyone nearby was suddenly fixed on the same thing. It was like a hive of bees, and all of them in perfect sync. He vaguely knew that other students were looking at it too, some pointing and yelling to each other about it.

 

Then he realized just what he had seen flash overhead. It hadn't been flying fast enough to be a meteroite, and was way too big. That left worryingly few options.

 

'What...what was that? Oh God, it better not be aliens. I better make sure Rachel's al-'

 

 

Nathaniel! Did you just hear that?

 

Nathan's eyes lit up, and the anxious look melted away at once. it was ridiculous, but somehow it was still a little comforting just to 'hear' the familiar voice.

 

Hastily cleaning up, the young psych student began making his way to a more secluded part of the school grounds, answering the mental call as he did 'You bet I did, Sis! I'll meet you at the usual place and we'll check it out together, okay?' ducking into a spacious alleyway between the biology lab and the physics building, Nathan gingerly disposed of his hefty backpack and book bag on top of an artful ledge. Just high up enough that nobody would see, and low enough that he could get them again later. Than done, the thought-shaper slid against the blind wall, closing his eyes and willing into place around his body a stream of color, something that twisted and sharpened itself, creating the shape of a lantern-jawed champion of justice! Resplendent in his sunset-themed costume, MInd-Set strode confidently into full view, arms folded confidently across an impossibly broad chest and watching the sky once more.

 

This time though, he scanned it carefully for any sign of Rach-Maelstrom's approach. And not for the first time, wished he wasn't the earth-bound twin.

 

"I'd give up at least one of my badass brain powers," he grumbled under his breath, eyes flicking across the blazing blue heavens "just so there wasn't such a hassle. Every time something comes up, I swear..." he sighed "I should just buy a motorcycle." 'Hey, Rachel' he called out mentally 'think we ought to get in on the motorized transport thing?'

[Raveled]

You have personalized air service, Malestrom replied, fixing on the blue and orange figure on the street. and you want a moped? Dream larger, brother-man. She didn't descend; instead invisible hands wrapped around Mind-Set and lifted him into the air to join his twin. Make sure your tray-tables are in the upright and locked position, because we're about to get going. The pair cut through the above the city, making a beeline for the smoking crash-site.

Stronghold and Thoughtspeed were the first to arrive, to find what could only be the wreckage of a spacehip. It was hard to mentally reconstruct it; something lying over there might have been a wing or an engine or an abortive life-pod, and main body looked crumpled and deformed, and the debris trailing behind it could have been attached any-which-way, but clearly looked more advanced than anything either teen had seen on Earth.

While they were looking over the wreckage, a hatch popped open on the largest part and a humanoid torso popped out. It pointed something glittering and decidedly gun-looking at the pair of heroes, and a drawling voice shouted out, "Put yer weapons on tha' ground! Or so help me I'll blast you where you stand!"

[KnightDisciple]

Thoughtspeed probably was a bit threatening in his black-with-green-highlights outfit, faceless black helmet and all. However, he made sure his posture was calm, open, and non-threatening as he lifted his hands up in the air, palms forward.

 

"Hey, hey, easy. It is okay. We are not here to hurt you. We wish to help. I am not armed. She is not armed. We are just here to help. Is anyone hurt? We can get you help if someone is hurt. Please be calm."

 

His voice was clear and calm, not quite commanding, but definitley not servile. While his vocal chords move, his mind did as well, and Stronghold heard his voice in her head.

 

--Try to follow my lead. Just stay calm, keep your hands out in the open. If he shoots at us we take him down, but if not, we just try to get him to chillaxe a bit.--

[horngeek]

Stronghold 'thought' back, trusting that William- Thoughtspeed would 'hear'.  -Sure, Will.  You're better with people than I am, so...-  

 

The unprojected, but almost 'audible' thought of 'everyone's better with people than me' may or may not have been picked up by Thoughtspeed as Stronghold's thoughts turned to the craft, her hands raised in a similar gesture to Thoughtspeed's.  The craft was certainly advanced, but...

 

Haukea started to worry even more, given the... pilot's?  Reaction.  Something had definitely brought it down, this didn't look like an accident.  

[Raveled]

"Very smart people on this planet, very smart." The figure struggled out of the craft, half falling and half leaping to the ground. He -- at least, it looked male -- was wearing a red-brown ribbed bodysuit, with a featureless black helmet rising from the high collar. "Now since you two got here so fast, I'm gonna assume you've got some kind of ve-hicle about. I'm gonna be commandeering that, or else you're goin'ta find out what it's like ta have yer molecules go in a bunch'a different directions." He cocked his helmet/head to one side. "Don't think'a me as a bad man, just think'a me as a desperate one."

[KnightDisciple]

Thoughtspeed tilted his head to one side as the figure demanded a vehicle.

 

"Ah, well, here's the problem, sir. I didn't drive here. I ran. Like this."

 

And in an eye-blink he's 10 feet further to one side, hands still held up.

 

"My friend here didn't bring a vehicle either. Now, if you're wanting some help or protection or asylum, we could always contact the Freedom League. I'm sure they'd be more than willing to lend you assistance. I do have to ask if there is anyone else in your vessel in need of help, medicla or otherwise."

[horngeek]

Haukea looked between the two, her worry increasing even more.  Thoughtspeed's demonstration had been necessary, but it might get a bad reaction...

 

The... man?  Well, she didn't know what he actually was, apart from a person.  Anyway, he seemed desperate, which could lead to bad news.  As the Orange Ring glinted, however, she breathed in, then out, ready to start creating constructs if the man fired his gun.  

[Raveled]

The figure's gun darted back and forth as Thoughtspeed appeared to teleport from place to place. "I suppose you didn't need a groundcar," he drawled, edging away from the young heroes. "I suppose I'll just need to use my own two feet. In that case, if you could kindly direct me in the direction of the spaceport --"

"Halt, villain!" Malestrom floated out the sky, hair moving behind her in waves, and put Mind-Set down on his feet. "Drop the weapon, and I can promise I'll go easy on you."

The space-man twitched to cover the siblings descending from the sky. "Aw, hell. You people have a damn funny idea of a welcoming committee. Although if you think I'm going to just hand over my weapon, you must be touched in the head!"

[Raveled]

Before anyone else could escalate the situation, the world itself decided to. A huge cylinder, easily ten feet across and thirty high, fell from the sky and came to a hovering halt over the wreckage of the space craft. It was mostly gold, with blue stripes from the top to the bottom. It scanned the wreckage with a neon green light; it quickly zeroed in on the spacesuited figure.

"FUGITIVE-ESCAPEE-DISPLAY DETECTED," the cylinder intoned. "BEGINNING RETRIEVAL-REMOVAL-RECOVERY TO CURATOR MOTHERSHIP-BASE-HOME."

"Like hell I'm gonna be 'retrieved'!" The spaceman cracked off a few shots that barely scuffed the armor of the golden cylinder. He took off at a dead run, deeper into the forest.

The cylinder unfolded a tripod of thick legs and grounded itself, extending a flat-topped head with a blinking green sensor. The head regarded the assembled humans for a moment before speaking. "EARTH-LOR-HUMANS. YOU WILL AVOID CONFRONTATION WITH THIS CURATOR-DRONE-UNIT, OR YOU WILL BE KILLED-VAPORIZED-DESTROYED."

[Ari]

Landing gently on the grass, Mind-Set glanced up at his sister chide her gently "Maelstrom, we don't know that he's-" only to be drowned out and transfixed for the second time by something crashing through Earth's atmosphere. The noise as it descended hammered down, hard enough to make your teeth vibrate. Nathan managed to splutter 'AGAIN?!' over the mental link, staring in dumbfounded frustration as another UFO streaked to a halt mere yards away.

 

Edging back thanks to the heat radiating from its hull, the square-jawed and colorfully-garbed champion of free thought was about to call to their new neighbor until it spoke. And suddenly everything became crystal clear.

 

 

FUGITIVE-ESCAPEE-DISPLAY DETECTED, BEGINNING RETRIEVAL-REMOVAL-RECOVERY TO CURATOR MOTHERSHIP-BASE-HOME.

 

That did it. Stepping forward, Mind-Set pointed furiously at the Curator drone "Hold it! You don't have any jurisdiction here! If one of your prisoners escapes, you take it up with the...uh..." he faltered, glancing anxiously at the nearby teens(and giving them both a polite wave), trying to think of who would actually be a 'proper' authority. He had never heard about any alien robots that cared about that sort of thing, anyhow. And the robots from last year had even taken over Star Knight's armor 'Oh yeah, she's a big shot in space, right? So, if she's with the League-' snapping his fingers triumphantly, he pointed again at the alien artificial intellect "-you can take it up with the Freedom League!"

 

Crossing his illusory arms over his illusory chest, Nathan's confident smile at the drone quickly wilted at its next unambiguous message

 

EARTH-LOR-HUMANS. YOU WILL AVOID CONFRONTATION WITH THIS CURATOR-DRONE-UNIT, OR YOU WILL BE KILLED-VAPORIZED-DESTROYED.

 

Oh. Well, that made this a little trickier. 'We can't just leave that guy, though...even if he's a criminal or something'

"Who is that-well, why was that person in your custody, Curator Drone?" he asked hesitantly, his force field murmuring invisibly into place. Just in case that was classified as "confronting." Suddenly, it struck him that he'd "confronted" the drone only seconds before. This was going to be way tricky...

[KnightDisciple]

Thoughtspeed groaned a bit at the entrance of this new girl. He and Stronghold had been making progress getting this guy calmed down.

 

Then the other spaceship showed up and it all went to hell. William knew that the Curator was bad news; his parents had drilled that into him. They'd tried to teach him that he should just avoid anything to do with the cosmic intelligence.

 

Unfortunately, they'd raised their son with too strong of a moral compass to just leave a sentient, sapient being to be taken back to whatever tortuous prison the machine demigod might have for him. 

 

In the blink of an eye, he was standing in front of the alien, twin swords of pure kinetic energy blazing in his hands. Even through that featureless helmet, those around him could tell he was glaring. 

 

"He's not going with you, and you're not taking us down."

 

And then everyone present heard his voice in their head.

 

--Right, sorry, this isn't a group chat, the only one who can hear you guys is me, but I can play relay. Sorry to barge in but we gotta stay on top of this guy. Stronghold, you should be able to give us some cover. Maelstrom, you and our gun-toting friend can help back me up in wrecking this silicon poser's day. Guy who knows Maelstrom, I don't know what you can do, so back us all up as best as you can. We're going to need to hit this thing hard and fast.--

[horngeek]

"Not happening."

 

The Orange Ring suddenly lit up in a blaze of light as Stronghold glared at the drone.  She settled into a ready position, her mind already thinking about where to place some walls to defend against the drone.  -On your mark, Thoughtspeed.-

[Raveled]

The drone seemed to consider the heroes for a moment, before the voice thundered again. "EARTH-LOR-HUMANS HAVE CHOSEN A PATH OF CONFRONTATION-WAR-DEATH. SO BE IT." The cylinder floated back until it was clear of the crashed ship, then it broke open and revealed three smaller drone-bodies. Well, small was a relative term; the first body that dropped out looked like a gorilla on steroids, fully ten feet tall with arms that were almost as long. The next figure was downright spindly even by human standards, with four arms that ended in snapping, scissoring blade-fingers. The last one didn't drop, so much as float; a humanoid body with vented jets on the back, feet, and hands that flared with a neon green light.

Malestrom let her power flow, and several of the larger rocks in the vicinity floated into the air, spinning slowly. "Well if it's a war you want..."

[Raveled]

GM

Before any of the heroes could make a move, the scissor-armed drone darted forward. Its movements were jerky, sharp, insect-like, and far too fast for any of the assembled heroes to track. It bobbed, it weaved, and it sprang up in front of Stronghold. The scissor-blades moved forward with a snicker-snack, slashing at Haukea again and again, sparking against her forcefields and forcing past the young hero's defenses.

Edited June 23, 2014 by Raveled

[KnightDisciple]

Thoughtspeed's eyes widened as the multi-armed robot moved as fast as he could! His eyes narrowed again as it struck against his friend.

 

"Big mistake, fry-maker."

 

And suddenly in a blur of black and green he was right beside the thing, his twin gladii blurring a complicated patteren that left a multitude of cuts across its metal superstructure. In the blink of an eye he'd paid back whatever strikes it had made four-fold, and those blows had clearly had an effect on the construct.

 

"I'll show you what a superfast swordsman is like, tin can!"

[horngeek]

"Oh, not again-"

 

Metal arms slipped past moving orange shields, and struck against Stronghold's costume, causing several pulses where they struck.  Unlike last time, however, the protection held, and then...

 

"Thanks, Thoughtspeed.  Now..."

 

Stronghold's eyes focused on the big drone.  "Even if I can't stop you, I can can at least give everyone time to deal with your friends."

 

The Ring shone, light forming into being in the shape of an orange box around the largest drone.  Even if it did smash through the box- and it likely would- it would still be delayed.  

 

And Haukea figured a delay was all that was needed.  

[Ari]

Drawing back as the robots began their assault, Mind-Set flashed a quick mental message to Maelstrom 'This is better than I expected, sadly. Keep your cool, sis, I'll try to draw their fire away from the others'

Taking a quick breath, Nathan worked his will on the universe, erasing himself from the perceptible world. To those around him the psychic seemed to evaporate from the inside out, a smooth glass-like circle washing him from sight.

 

Hastily stepping to the side, Mind-Set's eyes burned as another illusion of himself took the field, popping into view right in front of the hovering robot. Spreading its arms, the figment shouted over the roar of the Curator drone's jets "Hey! Pal! Let's talk this out, okay? I don't want a fight, we can all get what we want here!'

 

'Before you say a word, Rache, remember which one of us can blow up the world by thinking about it!' Nathan thought ruefully 'I've got kinda limited options here'

[Raveled]

The drone turned smoothly in the air, tracking the white-clad hero as he stepped between them all. "Earthling-human-Lor have shown that they prefer a path of conflict-challenge-death. This unit shall follow their preference." It raised one arm and metal plates slid back along its forearm, revealing a nasty-looking, chrome cannon. A green energy lanced out and struck Mind-Set full in the chest -- causing him to flicker and fade slightly, letting everyone see that the blast had passed through him and impacted the barrier of energy that Stronghold had set up around the massive, hulking drone.

Maelstrom gestured and a volley of rocks and dead branches lifted off the ground, propelled towards the fling drone faster than the eye could follow. The machine could follow them, though, and it twisted in the air, nimbly avoiding the projectiles. Maelstrom cursed and thought at her brother, Go find the space-man! If he got away from these things, maybe he can help us take them down.

Even as their pair of them tried to coordinate, the huge drone tried to rear up and bash at the forcefield restraining it, but its actions were too constrained to get any sort of leverage. Stronghold's prison held.

[KnightDisciple]

Thoughtspeed didn't let up on his assault against the robot. Clearly he was less than pleased with Curator drones trying to capture aliens or kill his fellow Terrans. He narrowed his eyes and gave a savage grin.

 

"Hey! Grievous wannabe! Watch the birdie!"

 

And with that he began an utterly dizzying array of showy moves with his glowing green swords of pure kinetic energy. For a few moments, they were weaving a super-fast pattern in the air...

 

Until suddenly the robot was missing an arm. Within a few more blinks of the eye, it was a pile of sparking scrap at Thoughtspeed's feet, as his swords were suddenly resting on his shoulders and he posed, one foot on the now-deactivated head of the scissor-bot.

 

"Thoughtspeed 1, Robot 0."

Edited July 29, 2014 by KnightDisciple

[horngeek]

Stronghold smiled.  "Good work!"

 

She maintained the wall around the strongest drone- that one looked like they should all try to handle it together, without the other drones distracting them.  To that end...

 

"Okay... let's try this out..."

 

A construct appeared in the air beside the heroine, looking something like a large spear.  Haukea looked at the spear... focused...

 

And the spear suddenly shot forwards, towards the flying drone... right past it, as it nimbly dodged.  Stronghold growled under her breath, frustrated at herself.  

[Ari]

Maelstrom felt a familar surge of anxiety 'But!....Fine. Don't do anything stupid, I'll be right back with him.' Ducking under the havoc of flying laser blasts and scattered foliage the towering psychic dashed off, warped out of view but still faintly detectable. Pebbles knocked free, grass bent under invisible feet and branches swayed as he ran after the escaped cosmic collector's item.

Already given to introspection, the question of 'why?' laced through everything that was going on, and as he jumped over a rabbit frozen in confused terror, Mind-Set struggled with that very problem. If this guy(if they were a guy) was important, valuable in some way...what could it be? And why had they found their way here, to Earth of all places? And why the heavy-duty pickup crew? And why...?

What made it worse was how little he had to draw on for the answers to these very important questions.

Thus distracted, it was with a jolt of surprise that Nathan saw the fleeing prisoner ahead. Drawing a deep breath and marshaling his thoughts, the young man bellowed "Wait! Hold on there, buddy! W-we need your help!"

Edited August 27, 2014 by Arichamus

[Raveled]

GM

The man in the spacesuit wasn't in fact very hard to find. He was hiding -- cowering, if one wasn't feeling very generous -- behind a fallen tree, watching the fight. He didn't notice Mind-Set's approach until the white-clad hero called out in his mind. He fell over in surprise, scrambling away from the hero. "What in the stars are you all doing? What are you trying to fight the Curator? No one fights the Curator, you're all just supposed to run away!"