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ENTRY # : |
77 |
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TITLE : |
SYSTEMS FAILURE |
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ARC : |
RAGE OF THE MACHINES VI |
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ENTERED BY : |
StarSeed / Templar |
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DATE RANGE : |
June 22nd, 2001 ctd. |
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HEROES : |
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OPPONENTS : |
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VILLAINS : |
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PEOPLE : |
Hazardman,
Tom ('Iceman') Kazanski,
Reporter Stephanie Lee,
Officer Soledad O'Roarke
The Scarlet Skater,
Victor Stewart,
Captain Whitmore
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OTHERS : |
C.C.P.D. - Exotic Response Unit,
F.O.R.C.E.,
Knightrider 1,
Hard Rock,
The Minute Men,
The Purple Ray Device,
Stronghold,
The SkullBox (Communicator),
Strongpoint Temporary Holding Facility,
The Temple of Blood and Dirt
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ENTRY : |
"And then I stole all Courtesie from Heauen,
And drest my selfe in such Humilitie,
That I did plucke Allegeance from mens hearts,
Lowd Showts and Salutations from their mouthes,
Euen in the presence of the Crowned King."
- King Henry the Fourth, Part I (folio)
[Act 3, Scene 2], William Shakespeare
Log Entry by: Hikaru Himura (StarSeed).
Here we were at the docks. Specifically the Temporary Detention Center. Where prisoners are
kept before they reach the fate known as Stronghold. We were there to rescue one such prisoner,
Victor Stewart. We were embroiled in a three-way battle and we were not on the side of Good.
The government had unveiled... unleashed the Omega and Beta Squads upon us. This is something
I had hoped I wouldn't see on this world. But sometimes hope is not enough...
Phoenix was unconscious with a collar around his neck, being dragged away by the Omega force.
Blur had reduced Liberty to a bloody pile when she "ran into his fist". Sub-Zero was hogtied
like an uncooperative cheerleader. Cipher... well, no-one had seen her. The priest was cornered
and the wolves were closing in. And I was staring down the barrel of a "Cipher-certified" pulse
rifle. This was far more familiar a scene than I was happy with...
- - -
Log entry by Andrew Mathers [Templar], 22.06.01
[Note to self: do not ask Hikaru-san about what he did with cheerleaders in his world.]
By the time my eyes had cleared from the flash attack sent against me by the FORCE trooper,
things had changed again. Sub-Zero was free at last, and was attempting to put out some fire
that was spreading on the dropped news van, assisted by Black Blur who was rushing an injured
civilian to get medical assistance. StarSeed was still tangling with the White Knight in a duel
of powers. Only two of the Minute Men posed any sort of immediate threat, plus a handful of
FORCE personnel.
Most reassuringly, Phoenix was back up, having pushed away the FORCE Agents who had been attempting
to carry him into custody. He seemed to be struggling with a strength-draining collar they had
snapped around his neck, however, and was drawing a lot of fire. I snapped off a quick compulsion
to try to get one of the Agents to help remove the collar before turning to scatter the Agents
threatening me.
Concerned, however, by the mental probe I had 'overheard' (for lack of a better phrase), I
directed my senses onto the mystic plane,just in time to 'spot' two strong sources of mystic power
about to depart from the cellblock. Ones with a bad feel about them. These would not be
reinforcements for the heroes. These were individuals whom the world would be safer having
securely locked up.
With most of the team out of place to prevent this escape, I triggered the panic button on my
SkullBox to call for assistance and threw a domination upon the Patriot to draw his attention in
that direction as well.
Unfortunately this was too little, too late.
The first to emerge was a grotesque cross between a man and a Rhino. Spotting freedom, he
immediately charged at great speed from the facility, passing through the protective fence as if
it were tissue paper and nearly flattening a number of the bystanders who persisted in congregating
outside the place. There he was stopped suddenly by one of Sub-Zero's entangles even as I threw
a compulsion upon it to return (and an easier mind to dominate I have never encountered).
Back in front of the facility, however, trouble was emerging. Trouble with a shock of red hair,
the crackle of arcane energy and a reek of Chaos. Such was my introduction to HexAngel, as it
split into six identical figures, and began to fan forth, engaging Kid Silver, the Patriot and
the last remaining FORCE Troopers. HexAngel was followed by another mystic threat, a pale
woman with a ghastly gem embedded in her collarbone. This was Moonstone, whom we had helped
to rescue from the apocalyptic ritual beneath the Temple of Blood and
Dirt, and whom I had believed to be safely locked away in Hard Rock. Not so.
With Phoenix still fighting with the collar, StarSeed and White Knight locked in combat, and
Sub-Zero working to try to protect the civilians from the battle (and himself from a deranged
mob of anti-Exotic demonstrators), there wasn't the available forces necessary to stop the
outbreak. Undoing much of my work during the fray, I released the ego mazes I had entrapped
a pair of Agents within and used another compulsion to redirect one of the Omega Agents off
Phoenix and onto HexAngel. Even with the assistance of Black Blur, it still was not enough
to hold HexAngel in check, nor could the unwilling aid of Rhinohide (for the few moments he
remained active before being taken down by a FORCE Agent). The best we could manage was to knock
out and capture one of the six components of the servant of Chaos. And force Moonstone into a
fight that would eventually result in her recapture.
While we maintained an uneasy truce with the remaining FORCE and Minute Men personnel to fight
these battles (with me using my mental powers as needed to keep them redirected away from us),
Black Blur managed to bash through the collar, and Phoenix and Cipher went to check out things
within the cellblock. There they found carnage; spraypaint used liberally to deface the place,
and the bodies of the guards within, some of which had the symbol of Chaos inscribed into their
chests.
I cannot begin to express the guilt that wells up when I consider that our actions may have
aided this psychopath in performing this act, or in enabling his escape. Bridges were irrevocably
burning as a result of our actions here. Far more so than in the worst of our expectations.
Outside, I began to discover more subtle evidence of the enemy who had facilitated the slaughter.
Whoever was behind this manipulation of events - and I got the impression that the source was
female - was drawn a little further into the open as she covered the escape of HexAngel. I was
able to 'observe' her attempts to liberate Moonstone from an Ego Maze I had laid upon her (which
backfired, causing that villain to lose consciousness), and suspect her involvement in the early
abandonment of the pursuit by the agents I had sent after HexAngel (as well as Black Blur). Most
telling, as the fray was mopped up, we found a group of civilians brutally assaulting Kid Silver
(who would require medical treatment from the Purple Ray device to recover). In attempting to
subdue them, I found inescapable evidence that they had been manipulated into an extreme rage
by our unseen foe. I suggested to White Knight that he have Bishop conduct a similar sweep; one
only hopes that he listens to me (and that Bishop is skilled enough to detect such tampering
amidst the wave of influence I tossed around).
All in all, things ended not with a bang, but with a whimper. HexAngel got away (with the 'piece'
of him in our custody vanishing like smoke as the power which animated it dissolved). Our unspoken
(and oft-violated) truce held long enough for us to make good an escape. Luckily for our cause,
the escapees had left Victor alone in their pursuit of carnage. He was located stuffed into a
supply closet, but otherwise unharmed. Transporting away from the docks, we successfully made it
back to the jet.
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WRAPUP : |
On the one hand, we succeeded in springing Dr. Stewart from his custody, and could now focus on the
more important job of thwarting the robotic menace. On the other hand, we had broken with the
authorities in a very public fashion, and were vulnerable to charges of being accessories to
the escape of some nasty psycopaths, as well as murder, assault and a host of other charges.
Would the public forgive us for our actions here, and for the blood spilled in our assault? If
not, would the group survive operating in the cold grey region between heroism and villainy?
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