Tiffany Korta Posted October 28, 2015 Posted October 28, 2015 Sitara had been spending the last couple of months chasing, and mostly sorting out, the various groups that had been taking advantage of the chaos caused by the actions of the Communion. The one that had managed to evade their best efforts had been these “Spectrum Knights”, despite her best efforts they just managed to keep one step ahead of the Praetorians efforts to catch them. After all time in space she was really looking forward to a little shore leave, she was sure she had enough saved up to finally take that visit to the Earth that she had long ago thought lost. If it wasn’t for the respect she had Naram she probably would have bailed long ago to make the journey anyway, in fact she was reporting to Paradigm was the only reason she was around when these so called knights happened to raid where she was currently based.Having driven off the raid her first instinct was to ask Naram to follow them back to there base and luckily she was among the few that had the very same idea.“You know me kid I’ve always got you back, say the word and we’re good to go.”Whilst she’d been working on improving her armours system it’s flight systems weren’t as fast as the other and she was well at the rear of the groups as it arrived behind the fleeing Spectrum Knights. The armour did however looked impressive the ornate pure white armour shining in the light of the gateway they’d just travelled through.
Electra Posted October 29, 2015 Posted October 29, 2015 Jessie barely glanced at the sky when everyone else turned their attention to it. Bad things came from every direction, but she was focused on the threat at hand, the one who had gotten them into this in the first place. The white void was there in the back of her mind, threatening to creep over her at any second, but Jessie fought it back. She was in charge of her own self, and she could handle this fight without falling back into old frightening habits. While Bie Yie's attention was momentarily diverted, she skirted around Aquaria and raced up to the alien leader, then screamed directly into Bie Yie's face, as loudly as she could. This, she'd found, had a tendency to disorient people and make them less likely to attack. She followed it up with a vicious uppercut that connected solidly... and seemed to have no effect at all. Jessie swallowed hard as the buzzing in her ears grew louder. "Run..." she murmured to Aquaria.
Avenger Assembled Posted October 29, 2015 Author Posted October 29, 2015 (edited) "Not without you!" declared Aquaria, standing protectively between Jessie and her erstwhile mentor as she spat a terrified curse at Bie Yie. "Dagon and Hydra will eat your bones and excrete your soul!"And then the blue tower exploded with an earth-shattering roar. Screams of surprise broke out among the Spectrum Knights and their families as the blue tower, site of the bunker where Jessie had been staying along with the other civilians in the little garrison, went off like a bomb; flashes of crystalline blue energy shards hurling everywhere, impaling the other towers, and shaking the dome where Aquaria and Jessie had just become the centers of attention for all the wrong reasons. The Spectrum Knights, and the heroes in the air, had seen a flash of energy come from the sky and blast apart the tower as if it had been struck by the largest bolt of lightning they'd ever seen. As the echoes of the explosion died away, the Zultasian Spectrum Knight sneered at Singularity, his blue armor having been unphased by her devastating punch. "My fellow Knights!" called Bie Yie, "we have been betrayed to the enemies of galactic liberation! Run and continue our revolution elsewhere - while I deal with these traitors!" Edited October 29, 2015 by Avenger Assembled
Thevshi Posted October 29, 2015 Posted October 29, 2015 Paradigm pulled back slightly as the sudden bolt of lightning streaked down from the sky and blasted apart a blue crystal tower in the city below them. She did not know what had caused the lightning bolt, but for the moment focused on the enemy in front of them. There appeared to be some gathering in one of the buildings below, and it was uncertain how many of these Spectrum Knights might be present there. "Do not give them time to get organized against us." She called out to the others as she focused on the group of Spectrum Knights that they had chased through the portal. The Naram flew forward slightly, her long black cape billowing behind her as she moved. Then she swung her hands together in front of her, a loud WHAM echoing over the city as a powerful shockwave reverberated away from her, catching all the feeling Spectrum Knights in its wake. Several were able to twist partially away, their glowing armor taking the bit of the shockwave that connected. Two others were squarely hit, but managed to withstand the force of the shockwave. One of the Spectrum Knights was not so fortunate, as the shockwave sent him spinning through the air slightly to fall crashing into one of the other towers that were still standing.
Tiffany Korta Posted October 29, 2015 Posted October 29, 2015 Sitara took up a position in the air her anti-grav systems keeping her almost perfectly still as she surveyed the entire area around them. She fired off a few shot’s from her power pike but right now it wasn’t her main concern, surveying the battlefield was her main goal and she wasn’t overly happy with what she thought she could see. “Paradigm I think I see civilians down there, this might be a entire Spectrum Knight colony. That’s going to make things much more complicated.” She was going to have to be much more careful now to avoiding hurting any non combatants, whatever the Knights had done it didn’t justify hurting those involved in the fighting.
trollthumper Posted October 30, 2015 Posted October 30, 2015 "All right," said Cavalier, "right now, try to lay down suppressing fire; if you are gonna take anyone out, aim it at the Day-Glo bastards but fire fast enough to keep everyone on their toes. Once we've got a path, we'll get down there and try to help the civilians." If they're willing to accept our help. This was, to all appearances, a terrorist operation. And terrorism usually did not limit its ideology to scary-looking assholes with scars, beards, and big guns. That sort of thing lured in supporters from the side - and, on some occasions, families raised under its banner. He just hoped they weren't getting involved in the game. He raised his blaster and fired on one of the Knights. The blast hit dead center - and was sucked up by the armor. Whoever had reclaimed the suit had made some modifications. I'll have to thank them for that. Loudly. With wild gestures.
Electra Posted October 30, 2015 Posted October 30, 2015 Jessie took Aquaria at her word and grabbed the amphibian female around the waist, leaping from the platform and across to the edge of the bowl where it slanted up towards the sky. Too far, her brain told her, panic and the white emptiness competing for control in her head, but where else could they go? Certainly not into the warrenlike maze around the bottom of the bowl, and to attract the attention of the invaders would probably only get them shot. There was really only one avenue of escape. She leapt again, as high as she could, wishing that she had a little more of the training her double had gotten, even if it had made Erin someone Jessie would not want to be. If they died here, that wouldn't matter much now, would it?
Avenger Assembled Posted October 30, 2015 Author Posted October 30, 2015 Singularity took another leap - but in mid-air, she felt a cold, icy feeling creeping over her limbs. Looking down, she saw blue energy like hardening ice spreading over her limbs, freezing them in place and binding her body as if she'd been stuck in azure amber. She just barely managed to toss Aquaria aside to avoid her friend being entrapped, but when she hit the ground at the edge of the 'arena', she was completely ensnared, with only her head and upper torso above the blue polished glass sphere that held her in place unbreakably. All around them Spectrum Knights were fleeing, shooting back at the Star Knights and Praetorians in the sky - luckily it was only the one on them. But maybe that was all it would take. "Your pink-skinned pet can't save you this time, Ackweereea!" Bie Yie taunted Aquaria as he moved in for the kill, his blue armor shining malevolently as he brandished his sword at the two women. "Maybe watching me cut off her pretty head will give you the true FIRE of a Spectrum Knight!"
Avenger Assembled Posted October 30, 2015 Author Posted October 30, 2015 Aquaria bent down and scooped up Jessie as soon as she was on her feet, her own mighty amphibious strength combining with her glowing green armor to let her heft Jessie's frame with ease. She crouched low until she was on almost all fours, spreading her massively muscled legs and broad toes. "You're a monster!" bellowed the Deep One at her former mentor, grief and betrayal knit large in her voice. Upset as she was, her voice was devolving into the croaking bellows that she'd first spoken in on the surface. "You don't care about freedom! You just want to hurt people!" The squamous faces of Dagon and Hydra swarmed behind her bulging eyes; the horrific betrayal of today, mixing with the horrific betrayal of her gods by her own people, mixed in her heart like the coldest waters of the vasty deep. It was all the same - she couldn't fight Bie Yie and win anymore than she could have fought the shamans of her own people, and these new enemies in the sky were as likely to blast her as anyone else. There was only one thing left to do. "Never again!" she vowed before she leaped - not at Bie Yie but _away_, vaulting over the heads of several fleeing Spectrum Knights into the obsidian tower - the home of the place where they kept the spaceships! Just as she did so, the mustard-yellow tower that had held the base's stored weapons exploded as the result of another devastating orbital blast, a tremendous burst of energy crackling down on the yellow tower as fragments of energy-glass went flying through the fleeing group of Spectrum Knights with devastating effect. As the heroes watched, Kallig, the-mass murderer they'd been chasing all this time, was torn to pieces by a flying shard as large as his body despite the desperate efforts of his Spectrum Knight guards to shield him from the blast. "Murderers!" they were screaming now, directing their fury at their enemies.
Thevshi Posted October 30, 2015 Posted October 30, 2015 "I see them Traveller." Paradigm called out in response as her teammate noted the civilians that appeared to be down among the Spectrum Knights on the ground. There also appeared to be some sort of struggle going on among some of the Spectrum Knights, but for the moment the Praetorian was focused on the group of Spectrum Knights they had chased here. But then the yellow tower explode, sending debris flying that killed the criminal the Spectrum Knights had broken out of the Lor Hall of Justice. Paradigm frowned at the turn of events. "See if you can determine what is causing those lightning blasts Cavalier." She stated as she flew forward in a flash to one of the Spectrum Knights. The Naram's fist shot out in a blinding flash, slamming into the Spectrum Knight's chest with tremendous force. The blow knocked out the armored alien, and sent him flying backward to land on the roof of a nearby building. "Those blasts from the sky are not our doing. Surrender now and we will do what we can to stop them, before any more harm is caused." The Praetorian stated to the other nearby Spectrum Knights.
Tiffany Korta Posted November 2, 2015 Posted November 2, 2015 With a more stable position and better idea of everything going on Sitara was able to get a better bead on the Spectrum Knights flying around them. Especially as right now she knew her job was to clear space so Amara could get closer down to the help the civilizations. “Don’t worry we’ve got things under control here. Let’s see if we can’t help at least some of them. Let’s just hope they don’t have a problems with the Praetorians, though they wouldn’t be the first.” Tracking a nearby knight she fired a single shot toward them hit, hopefully scoring a solid hit on the humanoid.
trollthumper Posted November 2, 2015 Posted November 2, 2015 Cavalier couldn't say he'd been sad to see the bastard go, but now he had to worry about a different variable - just what in all the hell could lay down that level of destruction. He fired his blaster at one of the armored goons who'd been coming at him, but his attention was primarily turned towards the sky. He highly doubted that some third party had wandered into the midst of this gathering at just the right time to sow more chaos... so what was it? He put his odds on "false flag," but he doubted these people would be bastards enough to risk the lives of their own families just as an ideological selling point. Then again, I've seen bigger bastards... "On it, Paradigm," he said. He routed energy to his flight circuits and took off towards orbit at top speed. He didn't exactly know what he was looking for, but he figured he'd see it soon enough - particularly if it decided to target him. Up in the lower atmosphere, Cavalier found his target. The black, wasp-shaped vessel the size of a Terran destroyer escort was instantly recognizable to him as a Star Knight diplomatic craft, the kind of ship Star Knights used when engaged in missions where entering in armor would be dangerous, undiplomatic, or otherwise unwise. Several of these ships had gone missing during the battle over Lor-Van and in the chaos that followed; along with their Star-Knight pilots. And it certainly had the firepower to inflict the growing carnage he had seen down below.
Electra Posted November 3, 2015 Posted November 3, 2015 Jessie yelped with alarm as she was caught by the strange ball of force, then whimpered when she realized she was trapped. The whimpering grew quickly to a full-throated wail, then a shriek as she was picked up and carried, half-blind and helpless, with the sounds of battle all around her. White walls seemed to come down around her and she was in a box and it was bad and something very, very, very bad was going to happen if she did not get out right now! She began thrashing wildly with every ounce of her strength, heedless of the damage she was doing her own bones and muscles in the process of straining at her bonds, or the fact that Aquaria was still trying to carry her. It worked though, after an endless minute of struggle, she managed to fracture the sphere holding her and tumbled to the ground like a newborn chick from an egg, too tired to move for a moment.
Avenger Assembled Posted November 5, 2015 Author Posted November 5, 2015 "Hmm! Maybe there's more value to a Wander clone than I thought," taunted Bie Yie, firing a blast of searing blue energy that just missed scraping Aquaria's armored feet as she desperately hopped towards Jessie and gathered her up in her arms, heedless of the danger of her maddened best friend. "Come on, Deep One," he taunted, his voice still half a drill sergeant's as he taunted her. "Where is the rage that wanted to liberate your people? Strike me! Show the Galaxy that the daughters of Dagon and Hydra are not to be trifled with! Why do you hesitate?" he demanded, even as he floated within striking distance of his amphibious former pupil. "Because I'm not a monster like you!" spat Aquaria. He made me think I was- She killed the thought. Knowing she couldn't outfly Bie Yie, and that he'd catch her if she made for the side, Aquaria jumped down right through the hole he'd just blown up in the artificial floor of the rocky outcropping. She had no idea what she'd find underneath, and it took her a moment to realize what she was looking at as she took in the scene of Spectrum Knights and their families desperately boarding...ships! "Jessie, we can-" A blast of scarlet energy tore past Aquaria, making her shriek in terrified rage as she vaulted backwards, losing her grip on Jessie in the process. "By the Great Galaxy!" She recognized a Star Knight well enough, even if she knew nothing about the furry humanoid underneath the armor that looked a little like one of the canines on the Surface of Earth. The hangar doors were open and as a vessel took off, she could see the big hole through which the Star Knight had entered. Pressing his wrist, Star Knight Glart signaled his commanding officer. "Sir! They have a...Class 5 clone!" Terror and awe stood out in his voice at the sight not of Aquaria - but of the semi-conscious figure of Jessie White she held, ignoring even the glowing blue figure of Bie Yie behind her.
Thevshi Posted November 5, 2015 Posted November 5, 2015 Once Paradigm might have hesitated at the suggestion that she abandoned the fight alongside her teammates to go and deal with another objective. But years of working alongside Traveller and other Praetorians had taught her that she could trust in her teammates. With a quick nod in response to Traveller, Paradigm started downward, quickly streaking through the ancient city and coming to a building just as a small spacecraft exited from within, likely carrying some of the Spectrum Knights. A quick look about the room showed several of the Spectrum Knights and the civilians, who appeared to be the families of the Spectrum Knights, all moving to board other ships. Also in the room was one of the new Star Knights that had been accompanying Cavalier, facing off with a Spectrum Knight and two other individuals, one of whom appeared to be a Terran, or a Lor. "I am Paradigm, of the Praetorians." The Naram called out, hovering in front of the exit from the building to try to block any other ships from departing. "We came here in pursuit of the group of Spectrum Knights who freed a Lor criminal from imprisonment, but we do not wish to harm anyone. Surrender, and we will protect you from whomever is attacking from the sky, and will ensure that all are provided a fair trial."
Avenger Assembled Posted November 6, 2015 Author Posted November 6, 2015 Paradigm spoke, even as another blast from the orbital bombardment shook the entire complex. A few of the Spectrum Knights seemed to be listening, as were the other heroes and Praetorians involved in the police action, but the former seemed skeptical at best of the paragon's words. But Aquaria, Jessie, and the other Spectrum Knights, relying on the translating program in the Spectrum Knight complex, heard something very different. "I am Paradigm of the Praetorians. We came here to destroy the enemies of galactic peace - the Spectrum Knights, who freed a criminal revolutionary from his just sentence. We do not wish to harm anyone. Surrender and lay down your arms, and we will ensure you will be fairly and justly tried, and given a proper sentence for your crimes." "You see!?" demanded Bie Yie of his fellow Knights. "You see what their peace is!? Run while you still can, my friends! I'll hold them off!" A vessel launched itself from the hanger just then, a small shuttlecraft that made a desperate swerve around Paradigm, forcing her to get out of the way before the fragile craft could splatter itself against her invulnerable body. "
Tiffany Korta Posted November 7, 2015 Posted November 7, 2015 With the others busy with other more important things Sitara was left with the three Spectrum Knight. Not that she was overly worried instead she spent a few moments working at the controls of her Power Pike temporally altering its systems to allow for a short burst of energy, she should really spend the time to get the systems fully working again. The pike worked perfectly but unfortunately they seemed to shrug of the the energy that swirled around them. “Well that could have gone better.” she mumbled to herself, before twirling the pike around her. She guessed she’d have to do this the old fashion way.
trollthumper Posted November 10, 2015 Posted November 10, 2015 "Class 5?" Cavalier listened in on the transmission from the surface. He knew from dealing with the Lor that Class 5s were created as one-person wrecking crews, capable of utter destruction. If these people had one... "Keep a close watch on the target from a distance. Maintain range at all times, use evasive maneuvers if approached, and use all measures to incapacitate. Non-lethally, if at all possible - if this is a repurposed Lor clone, their mentats can read the mind to figure out how the individual ended up in these guys' hands." Cavalier hung up and stared at the ship that was opening fire on the surface. He was done with this. He was done with waking in the night, trying to hush away nightmares of a blinding wall of white. He was done with walking past the memorial wall on Citadel, seeing the endless list of names of those who had died trying to save Lor-Van. He was done with seeing the stolen armor of his comrades being dangled on puppet strings, used to make new and terrifying bastards. And he was absolutely done with the Star Knights being used as some great oppressive boogeyman so that these people could feel all the more righteous in their crusade. Especially if that meant firing on their own people. He channeled all the energy he had in his suit into the close combat functions. He found one of the ships, isolated the airlock - easy enough, as he was familiar with the model - and began knocking on the door. Hard enough to dent titanium. "You are in possession of the armaments of the Star Knights," he said over his comms, aiming it towards whoever was piloting the craft. "The stolen armaments of the Star Knights. Armaments used for orbital bombardment. You will stop what you are doing at once, or I will take you apart until there's nothing left but dust."
Avenger Assembled Posted November 10, 2015 Author Posted November 10, 2015 Suddenly, Cavalier's radio contact with the surface died in a fizzle of static. An instant later, the occupants of the hanger cried out in mixed terror and rage as a terrible new star seemed to erupt in the double-sunned sky in a broadly-burning circle, a brilliant flash of white and orange that burned on and on as they watched. A few of the Spectrum Knights, looking directly at Paradigm (in particular, those who had heard and understood her earlier speech in Galstandard), were blinded by the flash, devolving to shouts of "Traitor! Traitor!" while waving their glowing weapons around, but luckily the group growing around Aquaria had been sheltered by the vessel they were behind and kept their vision clear amid the now-panicking crowd.
Electra Posted November 11, 2015 Posted November 11, 2015 Jessie pushed herself off the floor with great effort as the cacophony around her grew, wiping blood from her nose and studying the mottled bruises blossoming and fading across her skin from her efforts to escape captivity. Her hands were shaking, she noted with detached interest, and her legs weren't working very well either. People were knocking against her as they ran past, their shouts and cries hurting her ears, pressing against the white places in her brain. She could see the bad man a little ways away, but his outline was fuzzy. He kept changing to have different faces, scary blurry faces she didn't recognize, but knew she had to avoid. She staggered to her feet, forgetting her friend for a moment as she looked around for someplace to escape to. Even someplace to hide for a few minutes till she felt better, that would be okay. She saw a van with no wheels a little ways away and limped over to it, climbing in through the open back gate and huddling behind one of the rows of seats. The yelling outside continued, but she closed her eyes and hummed to block it out.
Avenger Assembled Posted November 11, 2015 Author Posted November 11, 2015 "By the Great Gods!" growled Glort, as horrified as anyone else in the hangar by the explosion - more because it represented the death of a fellow Star Knight. Remembering his last instruction from his commander, he focused on apprehending the rogue clone of Erin White as she staggered off into a nearby shuttlecraft. "Hold on right there, miss!" said Glort, flying over as his armor glowed a brilliant shade of red. "I'm from the Star Knights, and I'm going to take you somewhere-" Frozen in terror and indecision, Aquaria sprang into action when the alien in armor threatened Jessie. "<No! Leave her alone, you monster!>" She didn't fly or do something else that the others could have countered with a power - instead she vaulted over the side of the shuttlecraft to stand between the Star Knight and the open hatch that guarded Jessie, glowing three-headed spears in each hand. She couldn't save herself, she couldn't get them out of the situation she'd placed them in - but she wasn't going to let Jessie be taken without a fight. "<Space is full of MONSTERS!>" she declared before pivoting on one broad foot and kicking Glort in the center of his body mass with one long, muscled leg that took up much more of her height than it did for most humanoids. The sheer force of the blow, augmented as it was by the shaped energies of the Zero Zone that surrounded Aquaria, sent the Star Knight hurtling backwards, spinning briefly out of control. And directly onto Bie Yie's drawn energy blade. As the sword erupted through the dying Star Knight's chest, Aquaria gave a terrible bellowing cry and slammed the hatch shut behind her. With a Spectrum Knight on board, and the emergency protocols activated, the boxy vessel erupted out the hangar, jerking away from Paradigm so fast that the communications array on the lefthand side was torn away by a terrific impact - an instant before the vessel shot towards the sky, directly towards the still-fading globe of light where Cavalier's transmission had just ended.
Thevshi Posted November 11, 2015 Posted November 11, 2015 Paradigm found herself disappointed when her attempts to reason with those inside the hanger were met with hostility and distrust. They still did not know enough about what was going on to be indiscriminate in their actions, but it was at least clear there were Spectrum Knights who needed to be dealt with. And then the ball of fire erupted in the sky as Cavalier's transmission terminated, followed closely by Knight Glort being kicked by one of the Spectrum Knights and was sent hurtling into the energy sword wielded by the individual who appeared to be their leader. The Naram felt her fists tighten at the death of the Star Knight, deciding it was time for more direct action.Swooping down toward Bie Yie, Paradigm called out. "Enough! Your spree of murder and terrorism ends today!" With that, the Praetorian delivered a powerful blow to the Spectrum Knight, the impact of which was noticeable to those nearby. But despite landing a punch that could have smashed through the bulkhead of a star cruiser, the Spectrum Knight stood. The anger she was already feeling only intensified, as Paradigm launched an uppercut at Bie Yie, once again connecting solidly. While the force of the blow snapped his head backward a moment and caused him to take a few steps backward, once again the Spectrum Knight leader remained on his feet and in the fight...
Tiffany Korta Posted November 13, 2015 Posted November 13, 2015 Even if her system hadn’t informed of the fact a small star like object flaring into life wasn’t something you'd easily miss. Though right now she couldn’t be sure if it was a good thing or not, all Sitara could hope was that no one got hurt. Besides she had her own problem to worry about, splitting the pike back into two she fired off several shots towards the Spectrum Knight in front of her whilst trying not to become too obvious a target.
trollthumper Posted November 16, 2015 Posted November 16, 2015 The first minute after the explosion was spent alternatively tumbling through the void and cursing at full volume. Cavalier tried to regain his balance, cursing himself out for being so stupid. Of course it had been unmanned. Of course it had been loaded with high-grade explosives. Of course it had been set up for the first Star Knight who'd come surging up to shut it down, with the aim of leaving them smeared across the stars. He should have thought it through. But he was alive, the ship was decommissioned, and he could get back down. If he could just repower his thrusters... He managed to stop spinning as the comms and thrusters came back online. He zoomed back down to the surface. "In case you didn't see it, the ship was taken down," he said as he breached the atmosphere. "I'm going to --" He shut up the second he saw Glort, laid out on the ground. He rushed forward, but he already knew the answer. The armor's return protocols hadn't activated yet, but Glort was still dead. And Bie Yie was lying there, blood still on his sword. The blaster formed in Cavalier's hand. No more.
Avenger Assembled Posted November 20, 2015 Author Posted November 20, 2015 "Another one!" laughed Bie Yie in triumph, blue energy gathering around the blade of his sword with an unholy light. Cavalier had seen plenty of Star Knight armors in his time, and as he watched it was clear that whatever was powering Bie Yie's suit (borrowed gear though it was) was clearly not the extradimensional energies powered to him by Mentor. "You'll never defeat us, monster! My apprentice is already gone to spread the gospel of liberty across the cosmos!" He did his best to put his bold words into action by suddenly blasting Cavalier across the floor of the hangar, sending him smashing into the far wall so hard he left a crater in the far wall. And with that, he took off, flying low and fast over the surface of the planet's ocean, so low he left a trail behind him in the water that was pitifully easy to follow. If he hadn't just cold-bloodedly murdered a Star Knight, following him would have been far too obvious.
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