Firestorm

[Electra]

"The battery sounds interesting, but I suspect that the super-juice is what our bad guys were after," Fleur commented, even as she finished treating the last of the injured men. "I'd say the odds are pretty good that they somehow knew which vehicle it would be traveling in, and that's why it was targeted and the other one got away. You might want to review your security to see if there was a breach there, but it could just as easily have been an evil psychic." 

 

She rose to her feet, keeping one eye on the sky. "Let's get to the other injured man, see if he can tell us anything about what happened to the briefcase. Anybody who wants a ride, grab on." She touched one hand to the crown of flowers in her green hair, and suddenly her group was gone in a tumult of orange petals and the smell of marigolds. Ten miles down the road, a patch of wood sorrel that had been struggling to grow through a crack in the rumble strip suddenly sprouted an inordinately large yellow flower, which yawned open to emit the travelers. Stesha lost no time in moving towards the injured man, a poultice already in her hand. 

[Thevshi]

"Right, back to scouting." Velocity replied with a nod. At the same moment that Fluer and those accompanying her vanished, the yellow clad speedster disappeared in a blur. Split seconds later, she passed by the injured soldier once more, just as Fluer and the others arrived, but continued on toward the nearby town.

It was only a fraction of a second later that Velocity reached the edge of the town, the rain from the dark cloud above coming down even harder. The speedster accelerated her pace even faster, moving so quickly that it would be almost impossible for anyone to see her with just normal vision. Starting at the south end of town, she began a methodical search of the town for the missing Humvee and any sign of who had ambushed the convoy. But given the young woman’s incredible speed, even such a careful search of such a large area was hardly going to take any time at all…

[Fox]

Tiamat snorted as they emerged from the flower, clearing the smell of Fleur's magic out of her nostrils as she moved to place her scaled bulk directly between the others and the town. Not that Fleur's magic was unpleasant, as such, but it was certainly strong and she had better things to keep a nose ready for.

"I'm a little less concerned about the 'battery' part than the 'energy projector' part," Gaian Knight admitted, pulling together a dirt-padded stone stretcher of sorts in case their injured soldier needed help getting back to relative safety. "I'm still wondering what the motives are here, too: super-serums and energy projectors are all well and good, but from what we saw they don't really need the help. They're drawing a lot of attention to themselves for a smash-and-grab to get things of no immediate use."

[Thevshi]

GM

Fleur administered her poultice to the injured soldier, the healing plant immediately having an effect. The flow of blood from his lacerations, which had already slowed, stopped completely. Then the cuts began to heal over, the skin repairing itself at rapid speed. The man’s broken arm reset and began to fuse back together.

As the man's injuries healed, he began to regain consciousness. His eyes opened slowly, and he got a look at Fleur, his body jerking slightly in surprise. "You're one of the Freedom League, aren't you?"

Inside Fairview

The small town was rather quiet at the moment, most everyone having sought shelter from the bizarre thunderstorm that had seemingly materialized out of nowhere. But the streets were not entirely deserted as Velocity sped through them scouting out what was going on.

In the shadows of one of the buildings along the town’s main street, a tall figure was crouched down peering out into the rain. Suddenly the figure tensed slightly as Velocity passed by, moving so fast that she was all but invisible. But while the figure could not see her pass, he could hear her passage.

"What was that?" The man growled in French as he tried to peer through the rain to locate the source of the sound.

[KnightDisciple]

Gabriel had come along with Fleur after he had been assured everything at the highway was fine. Now he knelt on the other side of the soldier, offering him a warm smile and a very gentle pat on the shoulder.

 

"We are, soldier. My name's Gabriel. Might I ask your name?"

 

Once the man had answered, Gabriel continued.

 

"Give yourself a few moments to finish waking up, please. But when you've had a chance, we need to ask what you can remember about the attack."

 

He gave a worried glance to the others, before returning his attention to the soldier.

 

"It seems like they've got a town hostage, and we need every bit of intel we can get."

[Thevshi]

GM

"Specialist Jones sir." The soldier replied to Gabriel's first question. He then began relaying what he recalled of the attack. "When they first hit the convey on the interstate, everything just seemed to happen so quickly. Somehow Connor, our driver, managed to get us off the interstate and down to a local highway. But it was not long before they caught up with us."

"Suddenly, this…big tiger guy had leapt onto the side of the Humvee and torn open the door. He grabbed ahold of me, but then suddenly this running guy slammed into the side of the Humvee, and the tiger guy and I both went tumbling out when the door tore off. The Hummer kept going, while the tiger guy and the running guy had a brief fight. Someone else appeared to get them apart, but I did not really get a good look at them, lying in the bushes as I was, barely able to move. But eventually they decided that they would see who could find the prototype first, like a contest. The others would make sure the squad never left the two, while the running guy and tiger guy hunted them down."

[Thevshi]

Just that moment, Velocity's voice came over the team's League Communicators. "Just finished my pass through the town. Right now everything is pretty quiet, the heavy rain and lightning seems to have led to everyone shelter." The speedster began.

"The north and south parts of the rural highway leading out of town have both been blocked off by cars and other piles of scrap metal that have been dragged onto the road. The east and west parts of the other rural highway are blocked off by seven foot high walls of solid ice. There is also a pickup with an arrow through its engine block on a dirt road leading out of town to the southwest. No sign of anyone injured by the pickup."

"The Humvee is in the parking lot of what looks like the town's farmer's market, which is just at the center of town. It is in pretty bad shape, and currently empty. I spotted an injured solider in the town church, which is just northeast of the upper corner of the farmer's market. He had a briefcase handcuffed to his wrist. Local priest was doing what he could for some burns."

"I spotted a guy running around through the town. He was fast, but not nearly as fast as me. He was currently moving through the houses to the southwest of the center of town. Still, might not be long before he finds the abandoned Humvee. No sign of any others, but they could just be doing a better job of hiding than the one guy."

[Avenger Assembled]

All the teasing was gone from Frost's voice the next time he spoke on the communicator, and rightly so - for all that he played the vaguely perverse jester half the time with the Freedom League, he had been a veteran before all but one of his teammates had been alive. "Velocity, were you seen? Are you absolutely certain?"

 

He began pacing back and forth where he stood, unaccustomed energy in his icy step so cold he left hoarfrost on the ground in the shape of his bootprints. "They must have expected retaliation to stage attack against American military transport so close to Freedom City when there is mass teleporter on Freedom League team. And now village has been fortified? I smell trouble, dire trouble indeed. I suggest we go in hard and fast and with great force," he went on, striking one fist against another. "Flush them out and trigger their trap before they have time to prepare for us."  

[Thevshi]

"Ummm…" Velocity began at Frost’s firm question to her, "I don't think so. The running guy certainly did not react to me. But if he or any others I might have missed have the right super-senses, they might have detected me." She replied.

The speedster then continued, "I think Frost is generally right. We probably cannot delay too much longer. It is only a matter of time before the guy I saw finds the soldier in the church, or possibly even one of the others, though I did not spot any of them, but he could come across them on the move."

[KnightDisciple]

Gabriel's expression wasn't just serious by the time the soldier and Velocity were done. It was thunderous. Clearly the situation displeased him. The faint hum of sonic energy around his body just reinforced that fact as he looked at the others. 

 

"We can try negotiation, but I have a feeling they won't be open to it."

 

He thinks for a minute.

 

"Perhaps we can have our cake and eat it too. Perhaps all of us but Fleur should strike openly at one of the barriers, draw their attention and the fight there, away from bystanders. Then Fleur slips in via plants to the church, gets the wounded there on the mend, and begins ensuring we have a fortified fall-back position."

 

He shrugs a bit.

 

"It's not perfect, but it has some weight, at least. Takes care of our two biggest worries."

[Fox]

"It's not a bad plan," Gaian Knight agreed. He was already sinking his senses into the earth, looking around for what he had to work with and any land features that might be handy in a pinch. Not that he couldn't create or transform whatever he needed, but it was always easier to use whatever was on hand.... "Fleur can always circle back with us once people are out of the way, if she's able to get in and out of that church quickly. Heh - I guess we get to exercise that American pride and thunder after all," he added, chuckling - though considering the task at hand, there was only so much humor in it. Almost unconsciously, he'd already gathered a sizeable array of rocks and shards that floated, waiting, above and behind his shoulders. "We don't want to scare them into escalating or taking hostages, but we certainly want to draw their attention."

Tiamat scraped at the ground, grinning with great dragon teeth. "I think we can manage that," she rumbled, with an eye toward the town. "If they weren't showing signs of infighting, I'd say we split up - hitting at least two sides at once would demand more of them to respond. But if they aren't used to working together, we can outfight them as a single unit - their leader will be the strongest link, but the ones that insist on fighting and competing will be the weakest if we can keep them off-balance."

[Electra]

"All right," Fleur agreed, rising to her feet as she cleaned blood from her hands with a wet-wipe. "I'll get to the church and start a fallback point. Send any civilians or wounded you find there. Or if you need me, just stand next to a plant and give me a call." She leaned down and helped the now barely-injured soldier to his feet. "You're with me, Specialist. I need another pair of arms and legs, and at least you'll be out of the storm." Putting an arm around Jones, she touched the flowers in her hair and disappeared, leaving a faint wet-grass smell in her wake. 

 

Upon arrival at the church, Fleur braced the soldier until he could find his balance after the unaccustomed teleport, then let him stand on its own. "I'd like you to check what kind of defenses we might have to work with, what rooms are the safest, whether there are any supplies," she asked with polite firmness. "I'm going to check on the priest and the injured man, then I'll come find you." 

[Thevshi]

GM

"Yes ma'am." Specialist Jones replied as Fleur indicated he was going to accompany her to the church. He glanced at his damaged M4 carbine, and decided to leave the damage weapon where it lay, drawing his pistol instead.

Moments the pair appeared outside the town’s small church, emerging from a hydrangea that was just to one side of the main entrance. It was even darker here directly underneath the dark clouds than it had been back where Velocity had found the specialist, and the rain was heavier as well. The soldier followed Fleur into the church, heading off through a side door in the outer vestibule to take stock of what there was.

Fleur made her way quickly through the chapel, towards the rooms in the back of the building where Velocity had indicated the priest was treating the injured soldier. As she entered the room, the priest, a thin man in his late 50’s turned quickly toward the door, stepping in front of the soldier as if to shield him. "This man is under…" he began, his voice trailing off as he recognized the green haired superheroine before him. "Your one of the Freedom League! Lord be praised."

He stepped to one side so Fleur could see the injure man. "He has an arrow wound, in his left shoulder, and at least second degree burns on his back and right side. I was trying to provide what assistance I could, but I am afraid it is not much." Fleur could see the priest had begun treating the soldier with his own first aid kit, having bandaged the man’s arrow wound and had been cleaning his burns. She also saw the briefcase that was handcuffed to his left wrist.

[Thevshi]

"Be careful." Velocity had stated just before Fleur had teleported away with the soldier. The speedster then glanced over at her fellow League members. "Get their attention? Yeah, that should not be too hard." She stated with a small grin.

"We might as well just head straight to the south barricade, as that is the closest to here and would not require trying to circle around to another side." She added, become fully serious once more. The yellow clad speedster then started off in a blur of movement, but not getting too far ahead of the rest so they would arrive together.

Even with the comparatively slower pace of the others, it was not long before they came within sight of the town, the lights from buildings standing out against the dark shadows created by the storm clouds and heavy rain. Just as the Freedom League members could see the dark shape of the piles of debris placed across the highway, Velocity accelerated away from them, speeding up by the barrier and breaking the sound barrier, a massive *BOOM* echoing in the air as a the sonic boom's shockwave slammed into the barrier, sending parts of it flying away, although it was still well in place along parts of the road.

 

Velocity skid to a halt a few dozen yards away from the barrier, waiting for the others to catch up and finish off what was left.

[KnightDisciple]

Gabriel had flown most of the way, arriving just a few moments after Velocity on the final approach. However, he opted to land and being walking purposefully toward the barrier. His shining spear appeared in his right hand, and began tapping a steady rhythm on the ground in time with his steps. His face displayed determination and anger, both firmly in control. Finally, he stopped just a couple dozen yards from the barrier. His coat ruffled in the wind of Velocity's indirect strike upon the barrier. The sound controller seemed to think over something for a moment.

 

*BOOM*

 

 His left hand had raised and flung a wave of energy at the barrier, breaking some of it down with a thunderclap similar to Velocity's. But clearly the Irishman wasn't finished; his voice rang out over the entire town, clear as a bell and nearly as loud.

 

"Cowards! Villains! I name thee craven fools!"

 

*BOOM*

 

Another sonic strike, a bit more barrier disassembled.

 

"You hold this town hostage, fearing your fate if you were to face the likes of us in the open!"

 

*BOOM*

 

Shattering some of the loose debris into powder.

 

"Come forth! And face justice! Come forth and face your fate! Come, for vengeance from On High has come, and it is displeased with you!"

 

*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM*

 

Three more strikes in quick succession. There was now a wider hole in the center of the barrier, clear of all but fine powder. Still, there was plenty still for the others to help contribute to the impromptu theater session. 

[Fox]

Gaian Knight flew toward the barrier on a platform of rock, low to the ground and with his hood up to protect him from the rain as best it could. He waited politely - even impassively - while Velocity and Gabriel tore a sizable hole in the barrier, but he was hardly idle: with glowing eyes and glowing hands cutting through the storm's darkness, he was clearly doing something, but it didn't become clear until the last of Gabriel's strikes echoed into silence.

He brought both hands up and pushed them down, as if suppressing a giant, unseen object - and with the sound of grinding metal and crumbling road, the remains of the barrier sank into earth that simply wasn't there to support them anymore, the tops of cars left flush with the broken street surface and rendering the last of the barricade an open (if uneven) pathway into the city.

The path didn't remain unoccupied for long. As terrible a presence as Tiamat could be when she wanted, it wasn't the sight of the giant crimson dragon circling out of the sky to land in the street that drew one's attention so much as the sound. No sooner had she hit the ground in all her scaled, tail-lashing glory than she bellowed - an old, primal noise you felt more than heard, the kind of thing that your tree-dwelling ancestors had outlived by learning to run away from. It was a noise that alerted every living thing in a remarkable radius that there was a predator nearby, and it was bigger than you.

[Avenger Assembled]

When the barrier was down, Comrade Frost was standing on the other side waiting for the other heroes of the League. "Ah! You saved me trouble of freezing hole in steel. Delightful!" He winked at Tiamat as she landed on the nearby street. "Ah, Lady Tiamat! Your approach is as fearsome as Russian winter and as vigorous as Red Army soiree." Damn! I was sure she was going to burn her way through the barrier! I had line of sight worked out and everything. Feh, what a disappointment. He adjusted his costume's hood and pointed the way towards the captured town. "Come, let us bring disaster to our enemies and teach them price of tampering with American liberties!" 

[Electra]

"Thank you, Father, you've done just fine," Fleur assured the priest, kneeling down next to the wounded man. "I'm Fleur de Joie, my teammates are outside working on dealing with the threat. I'd like to set up a safe area for any civilians who might still be in harm's way. Can you tell me what's been going on here? Are people going to be holed up in their homes?" As she spoke, she briskly unwrapped a poultice and applied it to the arrow wound, then began smearing a very pungent salve over the burns. "This man is likely to be a special target; when he wakes up I may have to take him away from here." 

[Thevshi]

GM

To the south of town:

As the sonic booms and the sound of Tiamat's roar began to die down, Gabriel could hear the hundreds of voices throughout the town of Fairview questioning whoever happened to be near them if they had just heard the same thing. Of course the sound of the falling rain made it a bit more difficult than normal to hear across the town. But the white clad hero soon heard the approach of rapid footsteps, someone running far faster than a normal person could (although not nearly as fast as Velocity was capable of running).

Thanks to her goggles, Velocity was the first one to spot the approach of the other speedster, as well as the appearance of a man with a cape who dropped down out of the dark clouds above, flying down lower toward where the Freedom League members where gathered. The yellow clad speedster quickly noted the man above to her teammates, as she appeared to focus on the man who came to a sudden halt in the rain over a hundred feet past where the barrier had once stood.

The man that had sped into view was tall, standing several inches over six feet. He was wearing a white one-piece costume, which metal banded gloves and boots. He wore a golden colored helmet with full face mask on his head, with two small horns on each side of the head. In the center of his chest was a golden symbol, and a faint glow seemed to flicker around him.

Just as the man came to a halt, another figure appeared a little over a dozen feet to the right of him, a woman who stood almost six feet tall herself, with long platinum blond hair. She wore a golden full body suit, with two long strips of cloth that wend down from either shoulder town to past her knees, with a white strip of cloth that covered her eyes almost like a blindfold. She had black gloves and boots, and a black symbol in the center of her chest.

The man flying down from the dark clouds above was shorter than the other two, dressed in a blue and white costume, with dark blue gloves, boots and cape. He wore a brass mask that covered his entire face, though is shoulder length brown hair was free, a few streaks of grey at the temples. A golden symbol was on the chest of his costume as well.

The man with the golden helmet called out over the wind and rain. "The Freedom League, we feel so honored! I am Aries, and we are the Zodiac!"

"We were not holding the town hostage, merely insuring that the soldiers we were seeking were unable to leave while we looked for them. But we are more than willing to face you in the process."

Fairview Church:

The priest had seemed started by the sound of Gabriel’s voice and Tiamat's roar, but focused back on Fleur when she spoke up. "You are free to bring any who might need shelter to this House of God." He replied. "As for what is going on, I am not sure I can provide much insight. It was only a short while ago that this unnatural storm rolled in, the rain and lightning forcing people to seek shelter in their homes or in other buildings. Then this soldier appeared at my door and I took him in and granted him sanctuary."

As the priest finished responding, the Sergeant with the briefcase handcuffed to his wrist stirred awake, Fleur's healing having soothed the burns until they were little more than a faint hint of red and closed up the arrow wound after forcing out what appeared to be a stone arrowhead. "What…what is going on?" The man asked, as he sat up and glanced around.

[Electra]

"Stay down and  quiet for a few more minutes," Fleur urged the soldier in a soothing voice. "You're still healing up. I'm Fleur de Joie, with the Freedom League. It looks like your caravan was attacked by supervillains who want the technology you're transporting. My teammates are out dealing with them right now, but I'd like to get you to safety, just in case. Where was your caravan headed, and can that battery of yours handle going through a dimensional teleport?" 

 

She wiped salve off her hands once more, then picked up the bloody arrowhead. "Wow, very retro," she observed, frowning at the stone weapon. "I have no idea who would use something like this in an actual fight." 

[Thevshi]

With two villains on the ground, and far closer to each other than she really needed, Velocity was quick to move into action. In a blur of yellow, the League speedster ran up toward Aries, her fist shooting out at supersonic speed at Aries, a loud *CRACK* echoing over the road as her hand broke the sound barrier.

Velocity's punch impacted with the glow that surrounded the tall Zodiac member, the field absorbing the hit with seemingly little effect. But Velocity was already moving again, closing the distance over to the tall woman in the blink of an eye.

*CRACK* Her fist shot out once more, again braking the sound barrier. Once again she connected, no glowing forcefield stopping it like had happened with Aries. But Libra took the hit with only the slightest indication she had even felt it, stepping off to one side slightly, but otherwise seeming to be unphased.

Velocity skidded back to a halt near where she had started from, frowning at the lack of results from her opening attack.

Fairview Church:

"Staff Sergeant Reynolds ma'am." The soldier replied as she told him to rest a bit more. "We were transporting the cargo to Fort Belvoir, just a bit south of DC." He replied. He then gave her a somewhat downcast look.

"Unfortunately, I don't have the projector any longer ma'am." He said, lifting up the briefcase, which easily swung open, the locking mechanism apparently damaged. "It was busted open when the supervillains almost got us and we lost Specialist Jones. When we managed to get away, I knew the Humvee was not going to make it far, and neither was I. I gave the projector to Sergeant Davenport, and dropped him and Specialist Parker off in different parts of town so they could try to make their way clear on foot, while I drove as far as I could, hoping the villains would follow me. Once it broke down, I was just barely able to get myself here."

[Thevshi]

GM

As Velocity skids to a halt, Gabriel heard a whistle of something flying through the air from several hundred feet to the left side of the road. Tiamat caught a whiff of magic, before a stone arrow impacted on her left flank. The massive dragon's thick scales proved more than capable of deflecting the projectile however, and it glanced harmlessly off.

Looking to the left side of the road, Tiamat and the others saw a fourth figure just emerging from the shadows of some trees over three hundred feet away. She stood just over six feet tall, with shoulder length red hair and was wearing a green body suit and matching archer gloves and domino mask. An ornate bow was held in her left hand, and a golden symbol was on the left side of her chest.

The Aries shot forward in a blur of motion, maneuvering around Tiamat and heading first toward Gabriel. The speedy villain lowered his head as he approached the white clad hero, ramming into Gabriel and knocking him off his feet and off to one side.

Aries continued past Gabriel, rushing up toward Comrade Frost next and repeating the same maneuver. As before, Frost was unhurt, but knocked off his feet as the supervillain continued towards Gaian Knight. The Earth controller was also unable to avoid being rammed into by Aries, ending up sprawled on the ground as well as the golden helmed villain continued toward the League speedster present.

But as Aries charged toward Velocity, the yellow clad speedster was able to quickly dodge to one side, causing Aries to skid to a halt a short distance beyond.

[KnightDisciple]

Gabriel let out a huff of air as the speeding villain slammed a high-velocity blow into his armored torso. It sent him skidding back along the ground, and he actually started to roll. Between his years of practice at rolling with blows, and his innate ability to fly, he managed to take control of the roll and produce a rather dramatic somersault that he ended in a slight crouch, spear held out behind him. His natural flair for stage presence seemed to be instinctive these days. 

 

He actually gave a smile at the whole scene. His whole person radiated confidence, and as he floated up, his voice rang out over the fight (but not the whole town). 

 

"Ha! Was that the best you had, Aires? Also, you're mistaken. We didn't come here to face you."

 

He points his spear at the man, his coat flapping in the breeze, cutting a dashing figure without even trying.

 

"We came here to beat you. We're the Freedom League, and we can beat two-bit chumps like you lot on an off day. I'm not one for horoscopes, but I imagine yours wasn't the best today."

 

Suddenly, Aires would feel his person lashed by an unseen force. His whole body felt the subtle vibrations, trying to get his nervous system to lock up.

 

"We'll beat each and every one of you, then we'll help the fine people of this town get back to their normal lives."

[Thevshi]

GM

Gabriel's sonic wave stuck the golden helmeted Aries, the supervillain seeming to seize up for a moment. But the man snarled and managed to force his body to move once more, fighting against the hero's attack.

The man in the brass mask swooped down further, coming to a halt about sixty feet above Gabriel. "Oh, we are just getting started hero. Aries was simply trying to get you off balance to start." With that one of the man’s hands came up and a blot of electricity shot forth towards Gabriel. The white clad hero easily moved to one side, the bolt flying well wide and striking the ground down below him.

On a normal summer day, there might have been the fear that the bolt would start a fire. But the heavy rain Aquarius had broght over Fairview all but eliminated that fear.

[Electra]

Fleur frowned thoughtfully at that. "In that case, Sergeant Davenport could be in danger as well. Can you tell me what part of town you left him in, so I can start looking for him? I'd like to find him before anyone else who might be looking for him does." She looked up, taking in both men. "As for the two of you, I can teleport you to a safe place right now, somewhere you'll be far away from the fighting and will just have to sit tight until things are clear again. Or if you prefer, you can stay here and help set up the command post. I have your comrade, Specialist Jones, looking over the building right now."