Strance - The Pulp Superhero Game

[RobertoBlasini]

HERE WE GO!
**************************************************
Strance. The beautiful city for the masses. A thriving economy and political hub for intellectual discourse and a home to all who needed it, for the most part that is. Or at least it was when the UTNA existed; even when hints of its rule still floated in the wind like loose pollen from a flower. But those loose pieces have been shot and burned down. So has the city...

Strance has been taken over in rebellion by the Valar, who successfully, brutally, and unhesitatingly coup'd the UTNA and established their own gauntlet of rule upon the city and its surrounding areas. This includes all resources; the forests, the mines, the water, its all needed in order to run a regime. They just couldn't settle with a city and millions of peoples' lives. Figures, considering it's coming from a regime of raging psionic extremists. The Valar are a rebellion group that rose above the others among them, of those being pushed down by the UTNA, because their leader, Kalor the Twisted, had a knack to gather 'the strange', to organize them, and to force them beyond their own will. It was because of Kalor's forcefulness and brutality that the Valar rose over the regulators that the UTNA were. The Valar wanted a sort of control over those who were oppressing them, not just a government that would continue such 'oppression' and only regulate what needed to be done. No, Kalor had the fantastic, vivid mission to promote a group for the 'people' - those who were misrepresented, misled, and most importantly, forgot about. What about those who were provided to before? Who cared? At this point, only the freaks mattered.

Let me tell you, it was anything but this for what Kalor claimed to be 'freaks', who he saw as his own kind.

The city transformed into an abode for corruption, where it was watched and warmed by the fire of the angry group. Corruption is possibly even an understatement, but either way, Kalor sure kept it warm. And the city suffered. Its breath, its air, was stole right from it, causing it to suffocate to the point where its face went blue and Kalor barely even unclenched his fists from around its throat. Kalor did his best to separate the city, to put on a show. He manipulated the city he had turned black, and tried to make it look gray at the least.

He setup a mirage of a sector - Valarian Uptown - to make his reign look good and appealling to the substantive blind. It crawled with buildings of fancy and new architecture, creeping with it's rotten "freshness". It only served to show that the Valar could be 'creative'. It was setup as a dwelling for the particularly rich, who Kalor needed on his side, and the approachable psionics. It looked decent here to say the least. There was an environment here; paved roads, green grass and trees, 'clean' air, and the possible prospects of a good life. To the people within it, that is, oblivious to the true intentions. Uptown seems to be infested with unimportant Valars constantly roaming about, as if they were just cows to be herded while grazing. They always look so... suspicious and wary, bug-eyes darting back and forth while they chewed their proverbial cud. They seemed to guard empty buildings. Honestly, it seems they only guard those seeming storage houses, the ones that don't have much to them. They just look gray, with a crimpled tin roof with rusting edges. One would think there were assets in them if it were so guarded. An observant and stupid passer-by would notice that what looked like unconscious bodies constantly entered them. More people go in than out it seems, and it wouldn't be long before the daft observer entered it themselves, into these corporate slaughterhouses. The majority of the high rises here are empty and devoid, some boarded up and cut off from the rest of the cityscape. They look like attempts to create artificial beauty, another little pleasantry... Closed and forgot about, as if to forget the varnish they put on the image of this seemingly 'perfect' uptown; a little piece of heavenly cloth draped over a bigger piece of hell.

SCENE 1: THE PROCESSING PLANT
You see the towering, seemingly empty, building, which you have been told is 'The Processing Plant', right in front of you. This building's color has been washed from the rain and waste and the screams of the clockwork oranges staining it. The purpose of this building just churns your stomach (or cogs) to hear about. The degradation of free will at its finest. Chains of innocence are seen subtly drawn into this building and seen leaving dressed in the black uniform of the Valar, bearing the infamous symbol of a a black Star of David on a yellow Ankh. Going in hopeless, but coming out mindless. This is a major Valar facility, you know that at the least. The factory where the Valar army is produced like machines straight off an assembly line: they all seem the same; drooling, mindless tools of a 'greater' cause. You can no longer bear to stand by and watch. These people don't deserve this, you know that. The time for liberation is now!
Cast:
Texas
A-44
Shockroach

http://i775.photobucket.com/albums/yy31/demonkill4600/Scene1.png

[alexeduardo]

For Valar Eyes Only


Secret Valar Experimentary Corps
Case File I-46-87, Subgroup C.8.D
FOREWARNING: THE FOLLOWING MATERIAL IS CONSIDRED TOP SECRET UNDER THE WORLWIDE VALAR AUTHORITY, ALL WORDS, NUMBERS AND CONTENT COINTAINED THEREIN ARE FOR VALAR OR VALAR-AUTHORISED INSPECTION ONLY. ANY ATTEMPT AT UNAUTHORISED READING SHALL BE KNOWN BY THE MINISTRY OF CLARIVOYANCE, AND READERS SHALL BE APPROPIATELY PUNISHED.
NO INNOCENCE CAN BE CLAIMED, FOR YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Subject G-J-Hk
Pre-Valar Identity: John Alersten
Official Identity: A-44
Also Known as The Angel of Retribution, The Angel of Revenge and/or Angel of Death
Charged with: Dessertion, Crimes Against The State, Open Dissent, Revolutionary Associations, Theft of Goverment, Valar-Militar and V.E.C. Property and for the Dangerous Possesion of Psychic Power Inside of an Unstable Mind.
Psychic Ability Rank: Positive Six, yet subdued to a Two
Military Training: Positive - Seven Years in Official Valar Facilities, capacitated in basic survivalism, artillery arming, advanced urban storming thecniques and top secret V.E.C. programmes
NOTE: SUBJECT IS CAPACITATED IN HIGHER-ECHELON SECRET WARFARE, SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN LIGHTLY.

Pre-Valar Background: Much is unknown. Father was UTNA soldier, sustained heavy mental physical injury during Glorious Uprising. Mother keeps him alive, currently unemployed and living off communal slum-group, soon to be arrested. Subject has history of violent and destructive behavior, previous gang assosiation is suspected.
Official Background: A-44 was a top-secret V.E.C. weapon in the development stage at the time of its dessertion. It was the main subject of project 14-A, Codename Archangel, whose main aim was to research and develop thecniques in the field of psicomotor engines, particularily those with an immediate military advantage for the Valar Armed Forces. In the research of this field, V.E.C. scientists equipped subject A-44 with a class 48d Rachiodrakonic Anthroflight system, that is connected to his backbone and therefore uses the subject's powerful psychic reserve to power itself. Tests have shown that, given the right circumstances, this may enable the subject to fly.
It was thought that the narcotics, combined with constant physical abuse, would be enough to break subject's will and/or desire to escape. This mistake has been costly to the Valar, and it would be in the Psi-corps best interest if it would never happen again.

Upon Capturing: Subject A-44 should be brought before Higher Valar Armed Command, where its destiny is to be decided. Every attempt should be made to avoid subject's death. 48d RDAF unit is to be preserved inasmuch as possible, but subject's mind is most precious to Secret Valar Command at present. Physical crippling, along with mental submission, is recommended.

Special Note by Top Advisor Gregory Zaspra:
Since the Psi-Corps are under direct Valarian command, and considering the great power and vital importance of subject A-44, it would be most advantageous if, upon its capture, it could be delivered directly to my personal guard-force. Our Great Leader has a personal interest in the subject, and would prefer to "skip the middle man" and have him delivered to him as soon as possible, preferably through my personal office.

Known Assosiates: Escapee Android TX-45, otherwise known as Texas
Known Affiliations: Revolutionary Movement, People's Taxes and Strancian Stamp Collector Club

The Following Manuscript was found in Subject's Apartment after raid of 25.15.66

I was so naive when younger, makes me mad.
Well, maybe not naive proper. Hopeful, rahter. But naive in my hopefulness.

Mother. Typical success story, the kind you don't hear about anymore.
et she was robbed of her chances and forced into a life of shameful torment. I suppose it runs in the family.
Her father was a corrupt policeman, and a drunk. Hit my grandmother, probably abused of mom. Left when she was twelve. Probably drunk or dead below a dark barstool somewhere in the lower sections up to this day.
But mother pulled through, worked her entire adolescence, never descending into prostitution or drugs. Paid her own tuition up to high school, when she realized that for all her savings she could not pay law school.
Took a loan from the local mob, some italian bastards. They gave her the money and she applied for her dream college. Some weeks later she got the acceptance notice from the local academy. Of journalism.
F'cking guidos bought the exam and got her in, demanding that she graduate and forget to ever mention them in the newspaper where she'd work afterwards. She would also have to pay the loan.
Dirty trick. Hard to say no to the barrel of a gun, though.
To the letter was attached a pack of condoms, and a notice promising it would hurt. Every firday since then my mother was violated by one of the Don's closest friends. And every firday there would also be someone keeping an eye on her loved ones. God, how I hated that guy.

There she met my father, an unremarkable man of humble begginings. Wrote brilliantly, though. Sustained his family on short stories, he said.
I've never read any of them, don't regret it.
He fell in line with the mob's order, being the coward that he was, and tried to talk his way out of the UTNA draft. Failed, was shipped away the year after my birth. Came back shortly afterwards, paraplegic and insane. The goddamn pansie couldn't take it, surely.

I never knew of my mother's deal, but when I found out I was furious.
One of the few things I can still recal from my previous life is seeing my mother crying after being confronted by me. I remember screaming at her and demanidng that she at least move to another cuty. She kept screaming and babbling about how she had her life here and couldn't leave my father alone.
Another thing I remember is leaving shortly afterwards.

Regular Forces, that's were I started. They asked no questions other than you name, and even that wasn't verified. Perfect army, if you ask me. The very same day I signed we were shipped out, literaly. I remember seeing a man get kicking someone else to death for getting seasick on his shirt. Perfect soldier, if you ask me.

Valar training is brutal. Soldiers are tested every few months, the ones showing talent are moved not in rank but in Tactical Order, to different branches of the military. I showed promise.
I endured strain and unspeakable pain, just to be at par with the impossibly good athlete-gods that roam the top echelons. I have a ague feeling of running from danger on the hallways of our apartment; I don't know what it means, but maybe it helped me adapt to the hundred-mile marches and live ammo pusuits of the Valar Army.
I gave my all to the Valar armies, moving from division to division as my psichic potential was further discovered. It started with bending spoons, but soon I was field stripping a rifle from antoher room, soon mallets were clanging on my ethereal shields.
The combination of physical perfection and mental domination are what makes the Elite Army of Valar what it is, and they became my one and only goals in life. Don't want to sound cocky, but I'm pretty sure I once reached them.

As soon as that was evident, though, my wings were cut to make room for the new ones.

Among many things, the Valar are an aristocracy. They look out for each other and keep the bluntmen out of their social club. A social club that just to happens to include the armed forces.

Everyone else who made it as far as I did was pureblood psychic, born with their powers. I was strong, but my powers were mostly acquired through training, discipline and hard work. A concept still alien to most Valar.
Yet I showed potential, and I could have achieved something, I could've gone all the way to the top, all the way to the Elite Corps, but that did not fit in with the Valar's plan.
They took me away, not for being too weak for the next rank, but for being too powerful for it. Too powerful for the next level and for all the levels above it. Apparently, my hard training had reached a long-lost psychic power reserve, hidden in my bloodline, that was much more powerful than anything they'd seen for centuries.
So powerful was I, in fact, that they deemed it appropiate to have soldiers subdue me while the attached something horible to my backbone.
And thus was a super-powerful source of psychic energy, dormant for centuries, swiflty killed in one evening. I was burdened with metalic wings, that redirect my psychic energy for a perverted form of telekinesis. Those motherf'ckers took my power for me, and as soon as I knew that, I knew they'd pay.
I wen insane for a few weeks, raving and kicking at the nurses. I shouted all my hate and all my plan at them , threathened the Valar doctors, swore my revenge as they dragged me to solitary confinement.
Drugged, I was tested. Many times I was taken out and flown like a goddamned kite, then set free and hurt severely.
It was hopeless, I spent my days in a room not larger than my mother's deathbed, which I never visited. She only knew that her son was now in the V.E.C.. Probably died smiling, the stupid bitch.

Fate would have it that one day the facilities were attacked, I was much saner by then, or under the influence of drugs. The point is, I had the self-control to get out of the rubble and steal a Stalin-14 semi-automatic laser rifle, a favorite of mine.
I also had the anger and the hate to kill. And kill I did.
Out of the collapsing shambles of a gigantic V.E.C. complex, an angel rose.
Decided to be mean, and took the red coat and black belt of the Valar doctors. I had to cut it in the middle and tuck it under the wings, but it was definately worth it. Many fools ran towards me thinking I was their savior. Many more shot their most valuable men.
The complex was big enough so that I could fly uniterrumpted once a fec walls were down, and moing from cover to cover is definately easier when you can fly. Not that I reccomend it.

My first sunlight in years came after an explosion caused by the most wierd-ass robot I've ever seen. Jawless and red, he was about to get stabbed when I lasered his enemy's face from above. He complimented me on my acuracy, and the led the world's wackiest parade into the ruins. Colorful, happy, snarling and certainly crazy. I must say, they all looked like psychopaths and lunatics. My kind of scum.


Secret Valar Experimentary Corps
Proceed with Caution


The Facility, a place for dreams to bend over and make way for Valar adoctrination. All of these people have lost whatever semblance of humanity they had, they all lost their dreams and hopes, their pains and pleasures, their griefs and joys.
Yet none of their dreams, none of their hopes were as great as mine.
I was to be the carrier of a long-dormant source of near-unlimited psychic power. I was to be the front praetorian of the psychic legions, the shining Achilles of the new era's hoplites.
But all that was taken from me, and I was confined to a small cell, to gnaw and to kick until I became tired enough to be drugged, then the hurting would begin.
They took all my dreams, all the potential power, away from me - and that shall cost them. Yes, that shall cost.

[Meirnon]

A small robot stood in a dark cloak. Standing 5'5" at most, it was a remodeled SCAR-type, meant for sharpshooting. Oh... he was meant for sharpshooting. Strapped to his back was a standard issue rifle, with a green-tinted night vision scope.

The rimmed hat was atop his head, and he walked silently ahead of a man in black matte armor with dimly glowing red lights and a few other rebels. Sneaking through uptown was easy enough... the Valar were too cocky. They thought no one could get through here, of course, and so guards were slack.

A silenced *pop-pop* and one guard had the back of his skull dotted with pins from a gauss gun, sticking out of his scalp with rivulets of blood seeping from the pinholes.

A similar *pop-pop* and the one next to him was slumped against the same wall before he realized his buddy was dead. Texas was streaming this all to the man in black's visual feed, keeping the group informed as he scouted. When he saw the facility, he sat down and unstrapped his rifle, crouching down behind a low-lying brick wall.

"Boy, you better be gettin' here soon," the voice was heard in the man in black's headset. "We're about to be having a party and all those nice guards in the complex are invited." The last noise the man in black heard was a click as the rifle's cartridge was loaded before the line went silent.

[Lord_Asmodeus]

The Black Armored man responded, his voice was deep and a little gravelly. He stood tall, taller in his bug eyed armor, and stronger too. "I'm charging up my gun, if we're going to have a party for all those folks we need some impressive fireworks."

Shockroach hunkered down, bracing his gun against his shoulder and letting the targeting systems in his eye-plates find an optimal place to fire his still-charging his laser. Technically speaking, he didn't need to brace it since it was a laser, but it never hurt to be prepared. When he found a place he liked he spoke up again, signaling the Rebel troopers to start moving, and addressing the robot. "You're the recon-man for this job, I've got the place all picked out, you just tell me when you want the bang."

[Meirnon]

A chuckle sounded in Shockroach's helmet as the line came back on from the robot's end.

"Copy that, partner," the voice said, sounding like a mix between Jon Wayne and Clint Eastwood. Texas took his name from the glorified "gunner" days, the Wild West. He often read files about Santa Anna and the Alamo while his companions slept, that battle standing out years ago. How they idealized Davy Crockett... Shown to be going down with a fight. Little known fact... Davy was run through with a Spanish sword while surrendering.

Texas took off his brimmed hat and set it next to him on the brick wall, then pulled himself up to take aim, his poncho-cloak over him like you'd expect in a spaghetti western. He took aim at a guard on the post, and let loose a silent 3-shot burst, each one hitting squarely in the chest of the guard, causing him to fall backwards into a small nook in the wall away from the eyes of the other guards before he gasped and died.

"One down, boy... a few more heads to roll."

Texas took aim again.

[Lord_Asmodeus]

Shockroach saw the man fall and die and growled into the communicator "You mind maybe hurrying up on that go-word? If I hold the trigger too long without firing its liable to explode in my hands, and that's entirely the opposite of what I'm hoping for, if you get my meaning."

[Meirnon]

Another soft chuckle... then the silenced pops like before and the last 3 clockwork orange guards slumped.

"Alright, ya pansy. There's the opening. Aim for the access shoot over there, and try to keep it quiet. We don't want to start a ruckus until we're inside, ya hear me?"

I believe rounds should start soon

[alexeduardo]

Subject A-44 was held in solitary confinement. Hunched over by the weight if his wings, which were attached to the wall behind him, thus rendenring them immobile. Behind a thick steel door, only his head is visible. His ugly, beaten head.
He liked to mutter to himself. Kept him sane. Organizing thoughts to one day put in a diary may prove useful. Hindsight is always good

"Hey, look!" said a nurse-guard. "Our friend here's alking to himself once more!" said another one as it apporached.
"Tell us, ol' pal" uttered the psychic beast as its mate chuckled, "How may a diary help an old f'uck like ye?"
Well, said their slave, it always gives me the creeps to think the corpses before me were once people, you know, with dreams and stuff, but you wouldn't know about that.
"Oh-ho! we gots a clever one!" said the other Valar as it approached "tell me, darling, how do you plan to go about doing that? y'know, the whole corpse thing? How do you plan of letting go of the big metal claw clasping at your spine, eh?"
The slave looks up, feeling the unwanted implants pull at his neck.
Well, Deus Ex Machina

[Lord_Asmodeus]

Sarcasm tinged Shockroach's response. "Yea, I'll be all subtle, but you know I can't muzzle a high powered laser blast like you can that fancy rifle of yours, right? Not to mention the subsequent explosion..." Any further words were cut off in a rush of static as Shockroach fired, a bright lance of energy, there and gone in a split second with a crack of burned and displaced air, the shoot in question twisted and ruptured in the quick blast, the melted ends of the metal steaming quietly in the air. All in all the crack of air had been the loudest bit, a fair job if he did say so himself. "That suit your silenced standards?"

[Meirnon]

Texas picked up his brimmed hat and put it back down on his head. The tip dragged down over his eyes. He slung his rifle back over himself, and walked up next to his large friend, almost a foot and a half taller.

The robot walked with the large man and chirped in an equally disingenuous "pitch perfect."

[Lord_Asmodeus]

Shockroach nodded as he began to walk toward the opening they had made, talking to Texas as he moved. "So, once we're in how do you want to play this? Hard and fast or commando style? Or would you just prefer to blow everything up? Cause that works for me."

[Meirnon]

The bottom part of his right eye buckled in amusement. As long as he knew Magnus, the guy was always for blowing $#!% up. An image he couldn't get out of his head was the big man laughing while blasting the para-psychic Valar shock-troopers... Texas would be sure to print it as soon as they got back so Magnus could see it, too!

"I was thinking what we usually do," Texas responded, the pull in his voice indicating exactly what they 'usually' do. Under his cloak, he pulled out a clip of incendiary ammunition. He shook the clip a little bit, mostly to show it off, but also to make sure the spring was loosened. Holding it still in front of him, he cooed at it "yep... like what we usually do. Fireworks."

[Lord_Asmodeus]

Shockroach grinned under his helmet, and the somewhat disturbing mandibles that served as his helmets mouth opened and let out a low hiss of excitement as Shockroach checked the launcher attachment on his weapon, as he moved. "In times like these, being a former army engineer isn't so helpful because it I know how to build things up right, no, it's because I know how to tear things down the RIGHT way." To emphasize what he meant by the "right" way, Magnus peeked around a corner and launched an unassuming metal cylinder at a small group of guards patrolling an open space. Instead of going to the soldiers, the cylinder struck a support column they were passing, and with a similar *whump-crack* of displaced air, the cylinder exploded with energy, cracking the column and causing it to crack at the base and fall ponderously to the side, though not ponderously enough for the squad to get out of the way, the column fell and crushed most of the guards. Magnus waved some of the rebels forward as he moved up, finishing some of the crushed guards that survived with quick and efficient head shots with his weapon that left small smoking craters in their heads.

[Meirnon]

Texas followed in right behind the rebels, with Shockroach next to him, matching the man's long strides with his own quick steps. A mechanical whir followed by small electrical pops as the coils inside of the Gauss guns inside of his arms quickly let out electromagnetic bursts to propel the needle-shots. Texas took down at least one of the still standing Valars, although the coil-rifles also hit the others. It was hard to tell who got what kill.

"Indeed, you skill with architecture is useful," Texas noted, "too bad you missed a few."

[Lord_Asmodeus]

Magnus shrugged "Well, I wasn't to get all of them in one go without some sort of miracle, and not only did the falling of the pillar cause confusion among them allowing for us to clear up the survivors as their attentions turned to the source of their doom, but when it comes time to bring this place down this is just one less factor we need to worry about." Shockroach stopped before a number of small doorways leading into halls like the one they been in before they had entered the room. "We just going to go any which way, or do you know where we're supposed to be heading"

[Meirnon]

Texas tilted his head. A confusing order, of course... where to go where to go.

"Well, I was thinking that you'd know, mister Architect," the red robot chirped. "But... if I'm not mistaken, we should probably be trying to bust out the prisoners before we bring this place down. There's a metric $#!%load of unprocessed innocents here, and we need to get them out. That's what we came here for anyways."

With that, Texas signaled for two of the small rebel squad to stay here and secure the area for the escape. He stepped up to the locked door and twisted the handle off, pulling it open effortlessly. "It should be this way. I can smell mindrape a hundred feet off."

[Lord_Asmodeus]

Magnus bustled through the door, gun across his chest and ready to fire on any Valar guards as he muttered under his breath "Not like they gave me the blueprints to this place..." They turned a corner, and a pair of Valar guards stood in front of a locked security door. He dropped to one knee and fired off a couple of shots that left holes in the guars bodies, and he rushed forward. He put his hand to the complex locking system and electricity surged through his hand into the electronics of the lock, and in a moment it started to smoke, and the door swung open. Shockroach fired through the opening door, killing a couple more guards, and gestured for Texas to go in ahead of him. "Your turn."

[Meirnon]

Leading a few rebels, Texas continued down the Palisade access tunnel, not stopping when the door swung open and the guards inside were shot down.

The little red robot, stepping gingerly to the access door that should lead into the prison section, put some juice into the locked door just like Shock Roach. Opening the door, he fired a few shots from his Gauss guns, small pops firing and the needles sticking outside the backs of the orderlies in the halls here. The rebels with him spread out and took cover, doing the same, small similar pops coming from their coil-rifles.

The white walls had little spurts of crimson splashed against the walls, pools of the metallic-smelling ichor oozing out from underneath the quickly cooling bodies. Unlike Shockroach, Texas had a map... at least a somewhat reliable one. It was sold to him off of the black market from an apparent Valar soldier looking for a quick credit, both anonymous. From what the Valar knew, Texas was just a man interested in Valar architecture. Chances are, that guy will be dead before the night is over, Texas thought to himself.

The rebels quickly scrambled to take cover at every opportunity, and pops hit every orderly or guard who came their way as they made their way through the curving florescent white halls. Texas had an idea where they were going.

[alexeduardo]

Broken bones hurt like hell, especially when you can't do scat about it.

"And just what the almighty hell is that s'possed to mean?" said the nurse, who I nicknamed Charlie. Suited him.
As the slave prepared his answer -his long, thought-out, heavily foreshadowing answer- there were sirens. The Nurses were called to their battle stations.
One of them ran out of sight. The other one stayed, aiming his Stalin-14 semi-automatic Laser Rifle, lovely thing, straight at my face.
Couldn't see face through helmet, but knew him to be shaking.
"Any idea as to what's this, huh? Any...Any clue?

As I said, the god comes from the machine.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot you were entirely motherf'ucking bats'hit insane for a moment there."
The Subject just grumbled

[RobertoBlasini]

Shockroach and Texas
As you progress through 'The Plant', you can't help but hear the screams of dying Valar in the wake of your steps and the splattering blood of your allies in front of you. You have noticed there have been no psionics during the skirmishes here, only lowly soldiers, meant as cannon fodder by the Valar. You've realized from the map that more than just brainwashing street urchins MUST go on here. You see the floor plans for 'medical bays' and experimental labs and barracks.

You've managed to progress up to a second level in the building, freeing all of the innocents from the first, as well as freeing the Valar of their own self-induced misery. It seems that any remaining Valar have gathered downstairs, from the sound of it, leaving this second floor, which seems like a 'hospital' of sorts, unattended by Valar guards. The only personnel here are the Valarian nurses, trained to give you your medicine, whether you like it or not. A 'hospital' where they 'fix you up'. The entry to the ward is right in front of you and the stair case to the next floor, a laboratory, is on your right. There are two small rebel groups, of four or five people each, currently with you on the floor, and from what it seems, this floor seems undisrupted at this point. The map indicates there are cells here in this ward, and from the look of it, this floor is setup more like a prison than a hospital. The possibility of people being in here must be extremely high.

A-44
You're sick of these sons-of-bitches nurses. But you could hear the commotion occurring downstairs; the collapse of part of the building made a loud, avalanching noise, and the death screams of the Valar pierced even the thickest of floors. The two nurses in your vicinity, Charlie and the other scum, seem to becoming more and more distracting as the commotion begins to move louder and progress farther, as the movement of sound would indicate. The guard with the gun begins to turn around, looking nervously, obviously concerned about the current situation. As Charlie notices this, he yells at him, "If you're so scared, go check the god-damn monitors!" The nervous guard leaves for a moment and now it is only you and this piece of crap Charlie left in the room, momentarily at least.

[alexeduardo]

Charlie, lovely fellow. I've never seen his face, but I'm sure it's lovely. The sort of face one dwells upon to rest the eyes. Which is why it's such a shame I'm going to have to rip it off.


Hey, Charles, I think something broke up there. Better go check, don't want the wings to break on your watch.

As it left, Charlie muttered somehing about me gettting some idea, but I never heard it fully. As he started to inspect all of the monitors on the wall, the subject decided to start slipping his chains off.
Took it four years to master it, but his hands were free. All he needed to do was to ask Charlie here to check on his wristchains, then he'd be dead.

Alas, it was not to be. For a rumble and a sound distracted old Charles, and he left the screens and aproached the door, gun held and aiming.
After a moment's hesitation, the Valar scum shouted "Qui Vadis?"

Well, it'll be another day.

[Meirnon]

With his group going further and the second group holding off any Valar and helping innocents escape, Texas wasn't too worried. It seemed that this was going pretty well (not counting the two good men he heard gunned down).

He pulled up his right arm and let loose a volley of pins into the chests and heads of the guard-nurses, dodging laser projectiles and letting standard bullets reflect off of his body armor. Without slowing his pace down, he walked down the hallways in front of the group, a noticeable *kak-kak-pop* as his Gauss gun continued to snap out the metallic pins with magnetic force.

It wasn't long before they had an entire section freed, but a curious door was at the end. The second before Texas had hit the guard three times in the head, and now the guy was slumped against the door, sliding down with a small screech as the pins sticking out of his skull scraped against the metal gateway.

A few steps closed the distance, and Texas shoved off the body of the guard, pulling the door open with a powerful jerk. Inside, he saw a man strapped to the wall with a pair of chrome wings. A mechanical angel strung up and crucified is what he looked like, bent limbs in a submissive pose and his head down, mumbling.

"Well, look what we have here," said the sharpshooter, pushing his brimmed hat up above his eyes with his thumb and picking up the rifle of the guard, pretending not to notice the other one still in the room who was heading for the door, shocked expression across his face.

[alexeduardo]

There was a demon that came through the gunfire. Strange, I'd never seen one till then.
It was about goddamned time someone started to revolt.

[Meirnon]

The red robot in his cloak stepped close into the room, grabbing the pointing gun of the guard and smashing it up into his face unceremoniously, knocking him out and breaking his nose with a small fountain of blood.

"Talking about us?" the mechanical fighter said, waiting for his larger friend to approach the doorway.

[Lord_Asmodeus]

Magnus gunned down a small group of retreating guards, lances of bright energy stabbing into their backs and making them slump and tumble to the ground. He looked around and saw the robo-man walking into one of the rooms. Quickly checking the scene Shockroach walked in after him, mandibles clicking, and saw the guard lying on the ground. He debated whether or not to shoot him and have done before he saw the figure connected to the wall by his wings "So whats the story here?" his normally deep grating voice took on an insectile, chittering screech as he spoke through the amplifier behind his mandibles, that moved as he spoke.

[alexeduardo]

A heartwarming tale of torture and experimentation. Release me and I'll share it.

The Slave was relieved to see the nurses die, though he would have preferred it to be his doing. Well, there were going to be more chances, hopefully very soon.

[Lord_Asmodeus]

Shockroach leaned in and inspected the lock on the mans wings, scratching his chin with his claws and creating a small metal-on-metal scratching sound. After a moment he stepped back a bit. "My years of intuitive military engineering experience leads me to believe this lock can most easily be alleviated with subtlety and care." He said in his chittering bug-voice, and he reached forward and grabbed the lock, sending electricity into it and pulling, metal claws gouging the wall and his powered suit crushing the lock in his hands. He leaned back and spoke up again. "Hows that suit you?"

[Meirnon]

"Well...," Texas sounded, in a pondering voice as he shifted into a pondering stance, "the way I figure it partner, you're loose and you owe us to know who you are. That's a Valar uniform, and we normally kill Valar. What should make you so different, boy?"

[alexeduardo]

These

Subject A44 stepped out, letting his wings expand greatly.
These are my cross, my burden, the mark that sets me appart.
They drain the psichic energy out of my brain and through my spine. The Valar took away any and all potential; any and all hopes I had of entering the Elite.
I was confined in here, where I recieved periodic torture and beatings. I remember being dragged to my cell, barking mad, clamoring wildly and screaming for vengeance. I remember swearing I'd cut the head nurse's neck and stomping on the top doctor's spine,
The subject took a step and grabbed the laser rifle off the nurse's dead, strangely warm hands

and I like to make good on my promises.

[Lord_Asmodeus]

Magnus shrugged "Making good on promises is nice and all, but that doesn't explain to me why you were brought here, or why you're wearing a Valar uniform when the other prisoners around here aren't." Shockroach's big red eyes seemed to stare into A-44's soul, as if trying to discern his past with an unblinking stare.

[Meirnon]

The red robot, standing a far shot below his two conversationalists, held his arm beneath his cloak so that he could fire on the winged one if need be. "Well... that one might not be dead..."

Shifting his balance again, Texas, looked down at the man on the floor, blood dribbling from his collapsed sinuses into a pool underneath his twitching head. Chances are he accidentally killed the guard, sending a little fragmented nose-bone into his frontal lobe. "Well... might not."

[alexeduardo]

I am an experiment; a sabotaged superhero, you might say. But, above all, I am an enemy of the Valar. Trust me, and I'll trust you. I know my way around gunfire, and you should notice I've got a certain...edge.

So, is there some sort of plan? Or is this the usual mindless revolt?

[Meirnon]

The automaton stepped back and checked out the door, watching the rebels take cover behind doors and carts, firing at the mindless Valar peons.

"Well, I can't say much for the enemy, but we're pretty mindful." Texas stepped towards A-44 and helped him with his wings, grabbing him by the underarm and unchaining his wings. It was a facade of help, really, with his gauss gun pointed right at the gap in the ribs under the man's shoulder. If the guy tried anything, it would pierce right through to his heart, severing his carotid artery and puncturing lung.

[Lord_Asmodeus]

Shockroach just shrugged "You want to come with us and kill Valar, fine, join the party. If I think you're going to try and cross us, I'll snap your neck like a twig, now can we clear the rest of this place out so I can level it? Cause I'm really looking forward to that part." He leans out the door and adds his powerful fire to the rebels, cutting down Valar troops with more powerful bolts of energy before ducking back in.

[Meirnon]

Texas looked up at his large friend as they stepped back into the room, an "is it clear" escaping his mechanical voice synthesizer. Not waiting for an answer, Texas pulled the strapped rifle around and armed himself with it, incendiary rounds ready to be fired off when needed.

"Looks like the three of us are going to the processing area to take down the machines there," he said, "We'll have the others lead what few innocents are left outside into the sewers."

He relayed his directions to the others through their headsets, and set off in the direction his map pointed him.

[RobertoBlasini]

Off to the Processing Area We Go!
You clear the second floor of all of the Valar that seemed to come up while you were on it; but from the decrease in commotion downstairs and the increase in the thumping of feet ascending stairs, you can only imagine what will happen if you stay here any longer. One can only hope that the rebels you sent to secure the innocents have survived, but knowing them, they are already in the sewers where you sent them.

The map seems to show you that the actual processing area is two floors up, one above the laboratory. The setup seems to make sense, after you think about it; Brainwash them at the top, test 'em next, lock them up to assure they won't revolt, and send 'em downstairs and out into, what they've been told, is the wonderful Valar city of Strance. This is what you were preventing, ideas such as these.

As you ascend to the third floor, you notice that the laboratory seems extremely barren. All of the holed-up, anti-social Valar scientists escaped while you killed off the Valar soldiers who were too dumb or had no mind enough to run away. You shrug it off though; the lab isn't your concern, not now anyways, nor will it be after this damned building is levelled. No, your concern is where the real trouble happens, where the humanity of the people is stripped and all sense of morality and emotion is taken away: the processing area. As you reach the fourth floor, you hear a couple of foot steps up the stairway as you reach the top. Then they stop. The only sound now is the echo of the steps ringing out from the machines on the floor. After a minute of silence, a whisper is heard from the room above you.

"Hey Red! Go check the staircase, I *swear* I heard some clinking going on. I'm sure we're expecting people sooner or later, I mean why else would we be guarding these processors?"

"Our soldiers are pretty tough, Pub. I'm sure these infidels couldn't have gotten far. Sure they knocked some off the building, so what? They must've gotten subdued right after. I'll check anyways."

You hear the steps of Red approach the staircase, but you guys stopped low enough that you couldn't see into the room, although you can see the doorway, and someone from the room wouldn't be able to see you, due to the spiral staircase. You see a shadow approach the top of the staircase, and then a form enters the door way, faces the blank wall of the stairway, and turns around 5 seconds later.

"See Pub, no one here." He claims this as his hands raise in the air, as if he's got nothing or no-one, and his rifle hands from his back, connected to its strap.

[Meirnon]

Texas waited for the man to set back up the stairs, and silently followed behind, keeping his gauss gun ready. He started up the stairs, still silent, and took aim at both soldiers through a break in the hand-rail halfway up the steps.

[alexeduardo]

Subject A-44 readied his gun, but stayed behind. His wings, though closed, hardly fit between the walls.

I think it would be better if our Robot here could take them out silently, seems good at it. Or better yet, let's throw a grenade, hope you've got one with you, and enter before the smoke's cleared, guns blazing.

[Lord_Asmodeus]

Shockroach shrugged. "Sure, that could work." He stood there for a moment and then leaned out the door. He wanted to do this right. He waited for another good minute then leaned back in "I'm going to shoot the ground in an arc, kick up a lot of dirt and flooring, then you guys go in. You tell me when, and I'll fire." Shockroach started charging up his rifle and waited for A-44 to signal him.

[alexeduardo]

I've been waiting four years. I'd say the best time for them to die would be right about...now.

A-44, somewhat recklessly, jumped. He kicked the wall and flew into the building; guns blazing, of course.

[Meirnon]

Narration
Due to Roberto's absence, I was told I could do this.

Through the reckless charge of A-44 through the doorway and up the stairs, the two guards were surprised. Texas's line-of-sight was blocked as the two guards jumped to the sides and he was pushed by A-44. Shockroach burst in and shot up through the floor, a seeping red wound in the construction opening. The beam lopped off one guard's arm, cauterizing the wound black as the deposed appendage dropped through the opening, bouncing precariously off Shockroach's armor.

A-44, screaming with all of his hatred and rage, unleashed 5 or 6 bolts of polarized electricity from the rifle, the plasma leaving red fiery rings around black wounds on the chests of the guards. Before the three was a vast room with an Archaium door, bound with black and yellow lines along the seams and a control panel to the side.


Texas

The red robot dusted himself off and picked up his rifle, a disgruntled grumble sounding as he stood and pulled himself the rest of the way up the stairs. Caring not for eloquence, his full weight could be heard clanking on the steel steps. The robot glanced at the handiwork of A-44, the shots in 3 round bursts leaving a circle atop a circle atop a circle looking like some kind of Venn Diagram where most everything ended up in the "middle".

"Nice work."

[Lord_Asmodeus]

Shockroach stomped in and looked around wearily. "Yeah, military precision that, now lets us get this damn thing over with." With that said he stalked forward, not bothering to crouch low but keeping his gun charged and ready.

[Meirnon]

Indicating towards A-44, Texas queried, "You wouldn't know how to open that door, would you boy?"

[alexeduardo]

No, but I think I remember the nurses waving at it before they opened. Frankly, I don't know much of this building. All my hopes were to one day escape as they tested me outdoors, but I've come to understand dreams are worthless in this world...

Subject A-44 contnues grumbling to himself for a while.

[Meirnon]

The red robot heel-toed and started pacing, saying something about "archaium being resistant to laser fire" and something-or-other being "useless".

[alexeduardo]

(mutter mutter)...the only sensible thing to do...(mutter)...yes, blast the whole damn thing...blast it to hell

[Meirnon]

Texas turned, his body contorting along it's axis to face A-44. A chuckle escapes his jaw-less maw as he says "you can't just blast down Archaium. The heat from a laser or a bolt of plasma just falls right off of it. It dissipates so quickly you couldn't feel a blowtorch through a foil sheet of it."

Texas sighed, stepped towards the control panel, and took a thoughtful pose, right before slamming down on the thing, sending an electric pulse into it to unlock the door. Of course, now the motors were useless...

Stepping to the center, he started to tug at the indents, a pained creak escaping the bindings. Texas looked at his large friend.

"Magnus, help me with this, will ya?"

[Lord_Asmodeus]

Magnus nodded and stepped forward, pulling at the same section his robotic friend was, his suit was drinking up his natural energy, pushing itself to the limit like he was trying to tear the whole wall down.

[Meirnon]

Narration
I wish Roberto'd get back so he can do this...

An unsettling creak and painful moan comes from the panel. It screeches along the bottom of its track, a few sparks flying. You can hear the gears from behind the wall turn slowly, and the furthest you can get it is about enough for you three to pass through.

Beyond the doorway is a room with a domed and vaulted ceiling. In the center is a great computer terminal, wires and bulkheads extending down from the screen. Tracks run all across the floor, zig-zagging chaotically, each one leading to a pod attached to the wall. The tracks all meet in an opening at the base of the terminal, 6 empty slots with which to attach the pods. This must be the place they brainwash them, the tiny torture device-pods searing their skulls with new programming after a bout of torture from one of the rooms beyond.

Texas
The red robot stepped through the paneled doorway. He was small enough to get through, although he knew Shockroach and A-44 would be tough fits. Following the side of the wall, Texas peeked into each pod, seeing if there were survivors inside of them. Indeed, there were, but the looks on their faces and a small marking on the front of the pod told him that they were gone. A click from the door on the other side caught Texas' attention, as 4 guards poured in, each with suits signifying they were The Pitied. Probably assigned to mind-torture duties because of their psionic ability. Texas whirred around and fired his Gauss gun.

OOC:Time for a real set of rounds.

[Lord_Asmodeus]

Bulling his way through the small opening made by his and Texas' efforts, Magnus took stock of the situation. Texas was firing on a group of 4 Pitied guards. Shockroach slid into cover, hopefully without being seen, and looked around. The walls of pods were vast, and Shockroach could see there was another way around the firefight in the middle, if he could stay out of sight. He moved slowly until he was sure he was none of the Pitied were watching him, and then he hunkered down and hustled around until he could see the back of one of the guards. In a blinding rush he sprinted forward and smashed the heavy butt of his rifle into the back of the Valars head and then crouched, ready to fire on any others he saw.

[Meirnon]

Narration
Since Alexeduardo has yet to post his action

Out of all of the fired pins, only the first few hit, taking down one Pitied Valar guard. The rest were deflected by the telekinetic forcewave, pushed back. Hit by the wave, Texas is thrown into a pod, sparks flying everywhere and shattered glass.

Shockroach's rifle butt strikes true, with a spurt of blood coming from a long cut caused by the end of the stock. The guard collapses, and the one closest to him turns on his heel and pushed a psychic burst. From underneath his helmet, Shockroach's nose bleeds and his teeth grit.

Texas
Still being crushed by the psychic force, Texas is unable to get up. Trying to lift his arm, he struggles. After being crushed back down by it, his only comment is "peachy".

[Lord_Asmodeus]

As Shockroach begins to cough blood he flicks his weapon over to it's pure electrical setting and channels all of his excess energy into a bolt of electricity aimed at the Pitied's over-ripe melon

[Meirnon]

Narration

The psion didn't expect that anyone was able to pull through his mental onslaught: after all, he had broken innumerable minds into submission with his abilities. So, when the man in black was able to lift his arms and fire, a mark of confusion was all that could escape his visage before it was vaporised. The splatter caused the skull to splinter and his brain to burst, the resulting splatter of gore blinding his ally.

Texas

Taking the opportunistic break in the pounding force, Texas spun his rifle around as he picked himself up to his knees. An instant later, 3 rounds were fired off. The first one flew too far to the left, deflected by the sputtering psionic force. The second burst into the guard's knee, an audible pop accompanying the man screaming. The last shot hit him straight in the chest, the screaming turning into a gurgling. His lungs burst by the the incendiary round, the rich, red blood sputtered from his open mouth as he collapsed to the ground.

[Meirnon]

Scene 2
http://i775.photobucket.com/albums/yy31/demonkill4600/Scene2.png

The Slums:
The lowest echelon of Valar servitude is the slums. Decay, rot, and despair is everywhere. The poorest of the poor, either the ones who lost their jobs, ran from the law, or weren't in the favor of the Valar are sent to work here. 18 hour days are of work is considered average as the poor are forced through the dirty, mechanized shops. Coal, dug from deep under is brought up as fuel. Wood is cut away at the nearby forest to provide wood. Water is sullied by the constant pollution. There's not even enough food to keep the people from starving, where you'll see one drop dead right in the middle of his task. Of course, cannibalism is a craven thing to do, so Valar guards make sure all bodies are disposed of properly before any ne'er-do-well could get the chance to consume them.

Of course, the people here are so disparaged that the Valar hardly need to guard them. "Only the lowest ranking Valar for the lowest ranking mules" is what they say. Not that it matters much, because not even all of the self-depreciating black humor in the world could lighten the mood. If only it didn't smell so bad...

Cast:
Rose Red
Lucien

Rose
You find yourself in a wasteland. Smog clouds the sky and the stink of rot fills the air. You run through your head how you got here...

It was a calm day. The juniper berries and other fruits were sitting near you when you woke up, given to you by the plants while you slept as always. It wasn't long before the sun in the sky had risen, though, that you heard a rumble. Big things made of metal were plowing through your home, and, before long, everything was gone. You didn't know what to do, so you ran... you ran and ran as far away as you could from the beasts. That's when you found yourself where you are now...

Not knowing what to do, your feet keep on running.

[Viera Champion]

Rose runs. She doesn't know where she is going. All she knows is that she must escape the big metal monsters. Her rose is in her hand. Not a whip just a rose. She skids to a halt. Men in uniform block her path. They hold guns.

Hey. Look at this purty girl. C' mere girly.

Rose screams and as she does the rose morph into a thorny whip. When she realizes this she stops screaming and her face flases confused. But only for a second. Then she turns angry. She lashes out with the whip at the men.

[Meirnon]

Narration

The lash cuts across the face of one of the guards, a red line showing. It steadily grows, beads of red forming before falling down. The guard looks angry, his face turning red and the other guards chuckling. BITCH! he cries, Ye whore! I'll cut you up after I have me way with ye!

With that, the guard and his two compatriots lunge at Rose, Standard Issue knives drawn.

[Viera Champion]

Rose, seeig that she can't fight them all off makes a run for it. Her whip turns back into a rose. As she does a hand spring out of the way of the soldiers and starts sprinting away. Unfortunatly for her, her flexibility and reflexes do not contribute to her speed at all and she is pretty slow. Her HAWTness doesn't do much for speed and endurance either.:smalltongue:

[Meirnon]

Narration:

The guards keep up the pace and chase Rose through the winding way. It takes awhile, but you loose them through the turning maze, and you find yourself in a miserable hovel.

[Viera Champion]

Rose looks around to figure out where she is. She lost the soldiers but now she is lost herself in this building. She pulls her rose out again for protection. She carefully explores the place.

[Meirnon]

Narration:
The single room is not very big. It is made out of rusted steel and is about 10foot by 10foot. There is a single stove in the left wall, with cupboards around it. In the center is a steel, rusted table with a single chair. In the corner sits a bed and a stand. It's what would be considered "typical" by a slum-dog's dissertation.

[Tavar]

Crouching on a nearby overhang, Lucien watches several Valar troopers weave through the slums.
Heh, looks like someone put up a fight: the pigs bleeding. Still, don't want to get caught, especially since their blood is up.
Getting up, he drops down from the overhang, absorbing the familiar shock into his legs, then channeling it back into the ground, sparing murky water in all directions. Approaching his hideaway, he notices something's up: someone was through here recently. He freezes for a second, mind racing.
If this was a stakeout, they'd already be on me. I'm not big enough for a special task force, and the pigs down here wouldn't be this smooth.
...
Squatter, then.
Drawing a stolen combat knife, Lucien creeps over to the hideaway's entrance, then in a swift motion opens it.

[Viera Champion]

Rose spins around as the door open. Her rose whip is at the ready. There is anger mixed with fear in those 16 year old eyes of hers.
Dont come any closer or I'll hurt you like I hurt your friends, Valar scum.

[Tavar]

Lucien takes in the scene in an instant: Girl, attractive, though obviously not adult. Whip, odd-Plant?...Blood

In response to the girl's threat, he only laughs.
There are slumies down 'ere that would kill you for that, gurl. Me, I'm more understanding. Indicating the blood on the whip with a nod of his head as he stows his knife, he continues. Seems the Valar don't like you much, either. I sympathize with that, but this is my hole. I can't be letting you take it, not if I don't want the jacks on me. Now, I have some food with me, and it'll be enough for two. So if you'll not start anything, we can at least eat before business.

I'm experimenting with using Slang.
Slumies-slum-dwellers
Hole- what the slum-dwellers refer to their living spaces as.
Jacks- abbreviation of Jackals, refers to predatory slum-dwellers

[Viera Champion]

Rose's whip slowly turns back into the rose. Though she still seems cautious. She carefully steps closer to Tavar. She looks around her as she does. Trying to see if there are any plants there.

[Tavar]

Better. Now then, what are you doing down here in the slums? It's obvious that you aren't a slumie, and inciting the pigs down here is never a good idea.
As he talks, Lucien moves through the room, setting the bag down on the floor next to the stove. Taking out a couple cans of soup, the bag tips over, revealing an odd assortment of jewelry. Lucien doesn't notice, however, instead heating up the soup in a small pot, as he gets out some relatively clean tableware.

[Viera Champion]

Rose cautiously follows him, still not completely trustworthy.
I was escaping some Valar men who were try to...to...to...rape and kill me...
She looks down at the floor embarassed, as she says the last couple of words.

[RobertoBlasini]

Narration
As Rose's words leave her innocent and embarrased lips, it seems almost like a trigger. From outside the sounds of shouting and yelling are heard from the incompetent Valar who, are now, chasing blindly after Rose.

"'Ere pretty! You! Go look in those huts! And Gef, you go check those. Everyone else with me. We're gonna find our pretty."

You then here a loud shuffling of confused, but determined feet approaching the mumble jumble of abodes of which you are in.

Rose
As you hear the Valar disperse, you begin to hurt and gradually writhe in pain, which fortunately, isn't growing, and stops after a couple of seconds. Immediately as it is gone, you realize the Valar have crumpled the plants, the very few that were even in this area, under their boots of destruction and domination. It hurts you to even think of the destruction of even petty plants, when the prospect of having no plants at all is prevalent all the time in the common day.

Lucien
As you hear the sounds, you motion Rose to follow you, as if she already wasn't. You approach the stove, which you move with ease, and motion to a door awfully and not very subtley, hidden behind it. You open the shanty, beaten wooden door, and look around the vent which you are so familiar with. Always entering and leaving inconspicously, you know many routes around this neighborhood of mechanized despair. You hold out your hand, as an offering of protection to Rose, as you begin to climb in the seemingly empty vents.

[Viera Champion]

There comigfor me there gonna find me!
Then she feels the pain. The sharp pan of death cuts through her thoughts. A single tear falls from her eye.
They didn't even have a chance...
What could she be talking about? Yes yes. The plants I know. But Lucien doesn't.

[Tavar]

Yes, they're coming. And unless they want to catch you, you need to follow me. I know a few tricks myself, but it won't do any good if you just stay there. Come on.
Forcefully taking her hand, Lucien guides her through the maze of vents. Turining seemingly at random, eventually ending in a grate, which Lucien gives a soft push, making sure to keep a hold on it as it falls away.
There now. They won't find it east to follow us, but we should be going now. Still...here, help me move this.
He begins to push a pile of trash against the replaced grate, trying to block it as best he can.

[Viera Champion]

Rose looks around frightened for some plants growing here. Even if they are just weeds. She could use themto hold the grate etter than the trash. She helps move the trash while she looks.
Th-thank you f-for helping me...

[RobertoBlasini]

Narration
As you emerge from the grate, you see a fence in front of you, blocking you from the other side of these slums. You've never really understood why the houses were fenced from the mines and the 'lobby' of the slums; they're all as dirty and wretched as the other. On the other side of the gate there are alleys, and a good load of them. It seems that this maze is even more confusing than the maze of metal abodes, but Lucien knows these alleys quite well. Even here you can still hear the shouting and you feel the pressure of time come down upon you every time you spend trying to block the grate; you're not sure where the Valar are or what they coudl exactly be doing at any exact moment, but you do know you don't want to be here if they arrive.

Rose
As the 'Thank You' leaves your mouth, you look semi-frantically around the grate to find only a couple scattered weeds, looking as if they have wear and tear from the dirty feet and environment in which they grow. To you, though, you see some inner beauty shine before you, where any other being may just see these weeds as more of an infestation than the Valar themselves.

[Viera Champion]

Rose smile at the sight of the weeds. Nice to know something still lives ere. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. She really hopes his will work. She lifts up her arms as she feelsthe energy course through her and she feels the feeble life of the tiny weeds.

If this works the weeds should actually lengthen and press against the grate. They then become very stiff. A weak but extra barricade. It's up to Roberto whether or not it will work though.

[Tavar]

Seeing the plants twist themselves into the barricade, Lucien looks a Rose with something like approval in his eyes.
Useful...let's go east. Seth owes me, and the pigs can't follow us forever.
At this, he moves through the gate, then begins twisting through the maze of alleys, always heading east, but at the same time not leaving an easy trail. After about 3 miles, he stops, goes over to a door, knocks twice, and then kicks the door lightly.
Seth, it Lu. Open up the door, I'm calling the favor.

[Viera Champion]

Rose sighs as they leave the plants behind and follows Lucien through the alleys.

[RobertoBlasini]

Narration
The weeds stretch far enough to cover the trash's outer edge and to reinforce it slightly around the edge of the grate, but they refuse to stretch any further. To Rose, this weakness of the plant life around Strance, especially in the poor parts that need life the most, is a sign and call to her for help to restore the Strance. But now was not the time, not when you are being chased by crazy Valar looking for a good time.

...........................

As you knock on the door of Seth's alley 'apartment', if it can be called that, the sounds echo off the surrounding metal, and you see a lemon-shaped head stick out, from behind the door. You see a pair of eyes, one of which is blue and the other green, quickly scout over your person. After a couple seconds that seem wasted, you are invited into the home of Seth the Snake, a self-enacted title, to boost reputation and intimidation in these tough crowds. You see a quaint, two room home, filled with numerous holes in the walls covered by metal plates, a shanty wooden floor, no door connecting the rooms, a bedroom and a main room. The bedroom seems to only be able to fit a bed and the main room doesn't seem much different or bigger than Lucien's familiar metal abode. On Seth's table you see some coins and dice, as you can imagine he attempts to gamble when he can. He invites you to sit down as he talks to Lucien, as if he was a great friend.
"Lu, my goo' ole pal! Umm," He quickly inspects the door for a moment and continues nervously, "what can I do for you? I do owe you a favor, I know this, so... what shall it be? Are you in a predic'ment?"

[Viera Champion]

Rose stands in the middle of the entrance. She doesn't trust to go inside all the way. So she just stays there.

[Tavar]

Some pigs are going through my section, looking for some fun. Thought I'd best be scarce, especially with hot stuff. Thought you might be able to shelter us till it's over. While he talks, a certain tension seems to leave Lucien: he obviously feels safe here. Looking over his shoulder, he notices that Rose hasn't entered yet. Girl, come on: the point is to not be seen. And don't worry, we'll be okay here.

[Viera Champion]

Ok...
She slowly enters the building. She walks over to a corner and stands there her rose is still in her hand.

[RobertoBlasini]

Narration
"Well Lu, allowin' ya here is the LEAST I can do." Once again, his eyes dart quickly around the room, now to the door, but also to an open vent in the room and then to his bedroom, which to his knowledge, was empty of persons. "Are ya sure there ain't anything else I can do? I 'magine those Valar will catch up somehow. You have a plan when or if that happens?" Seth then pulls the only empty chair out from under the table and shoves is close to Rose; a non-verbal suggestion to sit, the least he could do for her.

[Viera Champion]

Rose sits and actually talks.
How can you people treat the plants here so horribly. What did they ever do to you?

[RobertoBlasini]

Narration
Seth takes his attention away from Lucien for a moment and flashes an inquisitive look at Rose.
"What do ya mean, girl? I guess we just never think about de plants like that. We've be dep'ived so long, dose kinda things just don't pervade our thoughts. Plus, why worry 'bout it now, since they all gone?"
As Seth says this, feeling conclusive, he turns back to Lucien, with a glance of half admiration/ half determination.

[Viera Champion]

A hint of fury flashes through Rose's eyes.
You think they're gone? You can never get rid of plants fully. They will always be living even if it is just a feeble wee beneath your house or a single blade of grass on a dead lawn. Plants will always be there.

[Tavar]

Lucien leans against one wall letting it take his weight. By then we should be able to get around them and head back to my hole. They should lose interest at some point: no one ever choose them for their attention span.

At the girls words, he gives a snort. Ah, so you can talk in sentences. They haven't done anything against us, but neither have they done anything for us. And in this world, that matters.

[Viera Champion]

Rose looks even angrier, but she remains silent. She has nothing to say to these people anymore. There saving her life, but she isn't exactly enjoying it.

[RobertoBlasini]

Narration
Seth nods at Lucien's answer about the plants. Then he asks Rose, "Did you DO anything to de Valar pigs? Cause if theys just horny, theys gonna stop, but if you did somepin else, I'mma not so sure." A look of legitimate concern washed over Seth's face.

As Seth finished his sentence, racket could be heard outside, the banging of metal on metal and the sound of thumps on the ground, hurried and spontaneous thumps. It gradually grew nearer and nearer.

[Viera Champion]

Rose looks a little frightened.
Does cutting ones face with my whip count as something else?

[Tavar]

Didn't look like much from what I saw, but maybe these might be a bit more persistent. I think we should be ready to move: where's your back way, Seth?

[RobertoBlasini]

Narration
Before Tavar even asks his question, Seth whips around and heads straight for his room, signalling you to follow him. He stands on his bed, and even before entering the room you here the light banging of metal on metal coming from whatever he could possibly be tinkering with. You're HOPING that he is tinkering with a way out, but what can you expect from slum thieves?

END OF SCENE 2
..........................................
SCENE 3: Ventures and Vices
OOC: There will be a scene 3a and a scene 3b
3a
You feel accomplished as you hear the crumbling of cement to the now occupied ground as you walk towards the sewer. You remember the disposal of the Valar that led up to you planting the charges on the central support; you cut down the Valar like a knife through butter, and even then, that can't compare to the massive pain of having pins shot in between your eyes. The escape, as you remember was easy; just right down the stairs, running of course, but there weren't many Valar to stop you, considering you killed all of them. At the bottom of the stairway, instead of leaving through the unorthodox hole you blasted in the wall, you found a maintenance hatch on the map, went through it, barely fitting, and found yourself to the sewer, before the whole building collapsed upon your bodies, luckily for you.

The sewer was filled with the disposed corpses from hatches out of Valar buildings, decayed and rotting, not to mention excreted waste from creatures other than just humans. The walls of the sewer were stained with blood, fecal matter, piss, and a variety of other human liquids and excretions. You sloshed through the mile or so of muck before coming to an entrance you were told led to Downtown. This, you thought, was probably the best way to go, because they'd expect more mischief in Lowtown and you know better than to go the Slums anyways.

Then there was the 9-5 business-place, downtown. This executive area was the common market, except what resources are limited, and taxes are so high that you'll just as likely eat your few credits that you have. Sure, the Valar don't run everything here. All businesses have large restrictions on them, but nor all are state-controlled: just everything that is important belongs to the Valar.

This place is quite orderly, a constant watch with a sentinel on every corner. The people who have been submissive enough to follow whatever order is placed upon them work here, living in either apartments or in Lowtown. The air is filled with fear, the exhaust from clockwork-orange soldiers who unhesitantly removee those with a bit of displayed discontent. Those were orders, and by Kalor, they were going to do it. The soldiers feared the consequences (if their minds were left intact) almost more than the citizens.

The work done by the citizens allows no breaks, no vacations. "Do your work, if you know what is best for you" is the Valar workman's motto, because if you fail to show up you could be charged for 'disrupting the economic order', a fancy way of saying you didn't put in your time here so you're going to put it in in the dungeons. Compared to the Slums, though, this is a relative haven from the torture of the Valar.

As you emerge from the sewer grates, you appear in a dank and dark alley, surrounded by tall apartment buildings. You feel almost claustrophobic, being here with a gorup of other people. What you know, though, is that you have to find a safehouse. No where is safe at this point.

As you walk to leave the alley you're in, to navigate the maze of alleys you know so well that make up inner Downtown, you hear light, semi-inconspicous thumps coming from somewhere above you.

CAST:
Texas
Shockroach
A-44
Jackal Nineblades

3b
You crawl through the vent that was in Seth's room. It isn't very long, because it ends abruptly after a minute or two. You are careful to go through one at a time, in the fear you will break it and cause commotion, which is definitely not what you need at this point. As you reach the end of the ventilation 'tunnels', Seth slyly removes a grate from its current position and lightly tosses it on the alleyway below. He climbs down with skill that looks as if it has been perfected and practiced many times. He reaches up and offers his hand to you.

As you enter the alleyway, and begin to go right down the alley, you hear the thumping of running feet in your direction. You know you only have one option, because left is where the sound is coming from and is the way back to Seth's front door, the destination you want to avoid at this point. Seth darts his eyes frantically and then dashes right down the alley, expecting you to follow, but looking uninterested in the situation of others, since his own life is on the line at this point.

CAST:
Lucien
Rose
Saviour Falcon

[Meirnon]

3A
Texas saw the heat signature. Figured it was just some common miscreant of downtown, running along the rooftops, doing whatever petty theft there was to be done. So he thought nothing of it, especially when it disappeared after he looked directly at it. The big guy and the man with the wings kinda screamed "don't steal from us", so Texas felt safe not letting it on the them what he saw.

"So," Texas started, trying to break the ice now that they were far enough away to talk, "how long do you think before they attribute what we just did to 'anti-peace terrorists' and then build a new one for us to tear down?"

[Tavar]

Common, girl, we gotta get moving.

Taking his advice to heart, Lucien begins to run after Seth.

[Viera Champion]

3B

Rose runs after Lucien and Seth. She isn't as fast as them so she may start to fall behind. She just hopes she is safe. She also hops Lucien doesn't have to do die all because she entered his home.

[RobertoBlasini]

Narration, 3B
As you follow Seth, he almost unknowingly navigates you through, what seems to be, a maze of alleys. In all actuality, you have only made a couple of turns, so now you hope that the Valar will be as confused as you were a couple of minutes ago. As Seth begins to come to a halt, you look around, at the walls, the buildings, and the mundane alleyway objects. You finally come to the realization that Seth has led you astray, and you are now caught in an alleyway dead end. As this thought begins to fall upon you, You see the shadows of Valar appear from around the corner, and the Blazing Star is beating down upon you. Simultaneously as the Valar begin to round the corner, a shadow appears to cover you from the sun, projecting from above you, most likely coming from these bland buildings surrounding you.

[Viera Champion]

3B
Rose's rose extends to a whip in her fear.
Y-you tricked us...
She cautiously looks up to see what the shadow is.

[Tavar]

Lucien eyes narrow for a second, then he moves. Hit knife, already loosened, snaps free as he attacks, moving to grabbing Seth's arm, and in on motion dragging it over the mans gut, disemboweling him.
Traitor!

[Viera Champion]

Rose backs away from the body of Seth.
So much for friends.

[Malfunctioned]

A loud strong voice rings out from the rooftops.

"Duck." Two footsteps coming from the rooftops are quickly followed by the smell of ozone as a blue and red clad figure swoops down from the building whilst letting two flourescent blue jets of energy race across the alley towards the Valar.

[Tavar]

Friend one day, enemy the next. It's the way things work in the slums. Looking up towards the shadow, Lucien calls up it. Who are you?

[Malfunctioned]

The figure lands softly on the hard concrete on the alley. He turns his head slightly to look at Lucien whilst keeping his hands trained on the Valar.
"Introductions later, let's handle these guys first."

[Viera Champion]

Rose nods and moves toward the men with her whip. Not even frightened anymore. The only feelings shower on her far are pure hatred and anger.
Those trees were my friends, my family. And you people just go kill them for your own selfish desires.

[daelrog]

3A

A lone man gazed down upon the three rebels, watching as they navigated the twisitng alley. SCAR model, Valar uniform, unknown. Of the three, the one with wings was the most intriguing. How the Valar could create such a creature was beyond his mortal comprehension, but then again, how could on truly understand the depths of tyranny?

His head filled with the voices of his teachers, old, dying relics whose black hearts were wrose than even the man he fought. His sniper rifle wasn't with with him, locked up in a safehouse six miles away.

The man reached inside his duster, pulling out a handgun with his left hand, a silencer in the right. Carefully, slowly he screwed on the attachment as he tread the abondoned, filthy rooftops. He lept over a ten foot gap wtih ease, ducking into a series of vents blowing out cold air. Had the robot seen him?

He reached one more time into his jacket, pulling forth his favorite weapon, a bladed tonfa which he held in his right. Finally, with his pistol still in hand, he pulled a mask over his face, a horrid face that was canine in nature. He would have seven seconds, that is, if he was lucky. Now only to wait.

[RobertoBlasini]

Narration 3B
Seth looks at Lucien and Rose, tossing accusations at him, as he whispers and mumbles worriedly, "I musta took a wrong turn somewhere back there...****...DAMNIT!" He starts clawing at the walls, looking for any sort of escape, as if this will open a secret door to a place of eternal protection. He was very misinformed.

Four Valar are at the end of the alley and you can hear the stomping boots of a fifth approaching hurriedly. These Valar don't respond to any of the words being tossed at them; they just approach you with a large grin and a stare of determination. "Lets kill us some slum dogs," their eyes seemed to say. They approached in a wall formation, one by the other, but their width didn't cover the whole alley. Seth looks straight at them, and then his eyes shoot right to the opening on the end of their formation. You've readied your weapons, but Seth looks like he's about to go for it. You can see the determination in his eyes.

He ran. And he ran like hell.

He shot right past you, Lucien and Rose, but the mysterious figure who just showed up, got knocked as Seth left. You can see the Valar let him get closer and closer. Their smiles got wider and you could see the yellow on their teeth, wrought with plaque and crap they're given as staple. You saw their eyes focus on Seth and they seemed to say, "Oh yes, doggy, come here. You're going to the pound, you are." Seth got the closest he could to the Valar without actually escaping before he became meat. If you ever doubted the power of a Standard Issue Valar weapon, you realized what it could do at close range.

Now there is an empty alley between you and five battle-hungry Valar who just got an appetizer, and you're the entree.

[Lord_Asmodeus]

Shockroach looked to Texas and spoke low into his helmet so only the robot could hear. "So, where are you headed anyway? Which way do you think we should head?" when he said that, what he meant was "which safehouse are we headed for now" but he didn't. Just in case anyone could here him.

[Meirnon]

Texas chuckled and sighed. "Well, I was hoping we could find a nice abandoned hole before we met up with the others in the warehouse. We'll work on getting those innocents out of danger's way afterwards. Probably send them on the closest UTNA convoy to the closest unoccupied area."

While walking, Texas checked his chassis. It would take some time to buffer out the few dents he received from deflected bullets, and he knew it'd be hard to find pins for his Gauss coil-gun. Always hard to find them... pretty much the only reason he used conventional guns was because he couldn't ever find enough pins.

Texas turned his head to Shockroach. "You have any ideas?"

[daelrog]

Innocents? The word echoed in the canine-faced man's head. It had no emotion to it, only a slight bit of curiosity, as if he were tasting it like a wine, not committed to like or dislike. They were nearing an empty. burned out building, or at least what appeared to be. Now.

He tossed three small flash bombs out, timed to go off in ten seconds. He was ahead of them now, but rather than jump to the next building he went down into the alley, jumping from wall to wall until he landed flawlessly on the ground. He would pull the winged one away from the rest of the group. Three, two, one...

[Viera Champion]

I swear my life will not be taken as easily as that miserable wretch. You will die for the pain you have cost me and my home. You will die for what you have done to all plants.
And with that she lashes out with her whip at blurring speeds.

[Lord_Asmodeus]

Magnus thinks a moment, and looks outside the alley before answering We could go to my place, it's still a pretty tough bolt-hole, and all of my stuff is moved out so there's no evidence..." he stops in mid-sentence, his suits sensors picking something up a metallic clinking. He whirled around, gun held at the hip and ready to fire.

[Meirnon]

Texas nodded in agreement with Shockroach's suggestion, but the clanks had caught his audio sensors, too. He saw that same heat signature again, then a brilliant flash from a few points of light. It would take him awhile to shake off that "blindness".

[Malfunctioned]

3B
Saviour Falcon quickly takes a couple of steps back and then sprints forward, there is another sound of crackling air as he soars over the heads of the Valar and quickly spins around, landing and launching a single bright blue blast of energy at the back of the Valar nearest to his two companions.

[Tavar]

Lucien grimaces as Seth goes down, but by the time Falcon preforms his leap Lucien is already refocused on the Valar. Seeing them turn to face the perceived threat, he sprints forward, making quick jabs with his knife at joints in the soldiers armor. He stoically accepts any blows he receives in return, storing them in order to release a crippling strike.

[RobertoBlasini]

Narration 3B
As Falcon is in mid-air, the Valar begin to approach you, Lucien and Rose. Falcon, you land in the blank alley spot where Seth would've made his escape, and take advanatage of the angle, aiming at the Valar leading the group. The Valar readies his gun as he walks ever closer to the two others, who are now charging.

*ZWOOM* The blue beam of energy cripples the first Valar as he falls to the feet of you, Lucien. You are now charging four Valar, and one crippled body is blocking your way. You trip over the body, but as you fall, you absorb the energy to your advantage, get right back up, and with your new potential, jab at the closest Valar with your knife, releasing that energy you stored, rattling his bones within his combat suit. All you hear, now, is the rattling of broken appendages, and you see the body slump to the ground.

Two down, three to go.

One of the three is now focused on Falcon, seeing where the first beam originated, and charges him, with the butt of his gun in a readied position to jam it right into your chest, Falcon.

Rose, the Valar you charge attempts to duck, as you sweep your whip across the ground in reaction, and cut his face with the thorns of your fury. Looking closer, this man has a coagulated cut already on his face. You remember the stare of his eyes as he threatened you earlier this day. He gets up and faces you face to face, circling you slowly.

Then there is the one left who has somewhat of the sense to run. And run fast.

[Viera Champion]

How about I add another cut to that face you freak.
She once again lashes out with the whip.

[Malfunctioned]

"Goddamit" Falcon groans as he brings his arms up in a crossblock in front of him, hoping to stop the rifle with the metal fins on his gloves.

[Tavar]

Oh no you don't...
Lucien ignores the fleeing one, instead helping the stranger against his foe, grappling him from behind.

[RobertoBlasini]

Narration 3B
As the Valar raises the butt of his gun, Falcon, you see one of the strangers you are helping, Lucien, come up behind the Valar. Lucien, you seize the Valar's gun, throw it on the ground and proceed to but the Valar in a headlock. You have slightly subdued the Valar to the point where it is on the ground now, struggling to get free from your grasps, with a standard issue Valar gun not even 2 feet from you.

Rose, as you lash your whip at the creepy, bug-eyed Valar, he attempts to grab it with his hands and yank it from you. He is successful at the point where you feel it begin to slip from your hands, but he is unsuccessful at the point where his hand is ripped off the whip, and the thorns make his hand bleed immensely, as he falls to the ground yelping in excruciating pain. Now the Valar is shriveled on the ground, in a pool of blood, with his hands being the point of origin. You lash at him one last time as he stops moving, and just lays there.

Three Valar down, two to go. One is being harassed, at the least, by Lucien and Falcon, and the other has ran away, surely far out of sight by now, or at least it hopes.

[Viera Champion]

3B
Rose falls to the ground and into a sitting position. Her face is staring of into nothingness. She is trying to accept what she just did. She hasn't ever killed a living thing before. Her whip morphs back into a rose that hangs idly from her hand.

[Tavar]

Lucien continues to struggle with the man on the ground. Little help here stranger?

[Viera Champion]

If he's talking to Rose, then she doesn't seem to here him. She continues starig off into the distance contemplating the fact that she just killed someone.

If he wasn't talking to her, then she still does the same thing.

[RobertoBlasini]

Narration 3A
Right as you hear the clinking of a canister, it's already too late to act. A flash of blinding light goes off and what seems like minutes of light is in actuality only seconds. You grab your eyes or helmet, thinking this will help protect you from the light which has already passed.

You, Shockroach and Texas, hear tiny beeps, indicating sensory overload from your environment around you. Your heat sensors are as red as the sun, showing the form of the figure in front of you. The most distinguishable part is the shape of the face, which looks surprisingly canine. You're blinded for about 7-10 seconds.

A-44, you begin to fill a tug on your arm and then that pain and feeling extends to the skin around the base of your wings, sending you into wincing pain. The flash of light mixed with the heavy sedatives given to you by the Valar, you're not sure what exactly is happening. One second you were walking next to your newly-acquired 'buddies' and the next second you're being yanked away by, what seems to be, a dog-man. You swing your arms to ward off the captor, but to no prevail, even after a couple-second struggle, it's got you in its grasp.

Right as you, Shockroach and Texas, become unblinded, you see a foot right before it turns the corner into an alleyway.

Jackal, you successfully capture this mysterious winged Valar experiment, but not without struggle. It takes a couple seconds, but you manage to grab him and coincidentally he manages to pass out. You take a sharp turn around the corner right before the blindness should be wearing off and then you calculate the best way to run the streets and rooftops to get to your nearest safehouse efficiently and unnoticed.

[daelrog]

Jackal's nearest safehouse was a mile away, and it was... not his favorite place to be. He leaned over to look at his prey, unconcious. He wouldn't have minded getting a few answers out of hm now, but it could wait. The freak would talk.

Without another moment's hesitation, Jackal swung A-44 over his back, a precarious position if it woke up, but at the moment his best bet to outrun its companions. He moved through the empty, burned out bulding he had run into, hoping the other side offered an escape. Once outside he'd find hs way to the sewer.

He took off at a run, no doubt his endurance the match of anyone. As he moved through the hollowed innards of the buidling, he sheathed hs tonfa using his right hand to hold onto A-44 as his other hand still gripped his pistol.

[Malfunctioned]

Falcon leans over the struggling man and gives him a swift, strong punch to the head, hoping to knock him out.

"My name is Saviour Falcon, you are?" He asks looking up a Lucien.

[Meirnon]

3A

"Well, isn't that dandy?"

Texas stepped back and scanned the area around him. His infrared was still wonky, and his nightvision wasn't entirely reliable at the moment. He switched to the normal light spectrum and grabbed onto Shockroach's arm as he ran past, tugging him along.

"Looks like we've got an experiment-napper. Last I could tell he was heading this way," the small robot lead on.

[Lord_Asmodeus]

Shockroach nodded and followed the directin Tex indicated, and pushed his suit to it's maximum speed. He charged down the road at a speed no ordinary human could hope to attain, glancing angrily about looking for the abductor. He sent a message back to Texas. "I'll rush on ahead, you stay back a bit and comb more effectively. That sound good?"

[Meirnon]

3A

Texas nodded and turned into an open doorway... not that it had a door on it's hinges in a long time. The remodeled SCAR detached the scope on the rifle across his back and set it to thermal/infrared. If his personal sensors were screwy, he'd use something else. He scanned the buildings one-by-one, running them over for heat signals. He hated it... such a small scope meant it took longer than if his personal sensors were operating. The damned flash, though, messed them up and now needed some time to deresolute and debug.

[daelrog]

With utter ruthlessness, Jackal kicked out a section of dry wall, and stepped out onto the alley behind. Dragging his catch behind, he gave no concern to the scratches nad scruffs A-44 was suffering against the asphalt.

Taking the briefest moment to check his surroundings, he turned right. He was unfamiliar with this place, his eyes desperately searched for a passage to the sewers.

[Lord_Asmodeus]

Shockroach's visual sensors were also recovering from the overload, and his helmets targeting systems weren't functioning properly, but his suits other senses were still active. Most importantly was his suits audio sensors. Having turned his sensors up to maximum, Shockroach heard crunching sound of the dry wall getting kicked in and adjusted his course, smashing through the side of the building, his suits visual sensors struggling to keep up but his hearing on maximum, barrelling through the damaged wall ahead his audio sensors up to max. If their fleeing foe made half as much sound as such a frantic retreat should, Magnus would hear it.

[daelrog]

Jackal was used to carrying soldiers and murderers through the dark places of Strance, not somethng with wings.

The metal scraped the broken dirt and asphault underneath, leaving behind two distnct trails as Jackal moved left, descending deeper into the labyrinth of hollow houses and piss.

He could outrun the SCAR model, the things lacked any depth. The other one though, he had never seen.

[Tavar]

Lucien relaxes as the man goes limp, and pushes the body off. Standing up, he moves to retrieve his knife, only pausing when the stranger reveals his name.
Now that's a flowery name. Just call me Lucien.
Picking up his knife, he quickly moves over to the downed man, finds a chink in his armor, and slits his throat.

[RobertoBlasini]

Narration
3a
Jackal, as you twist and turn through the maze of abandoned apartments, family living rooms, and alleys, you run through a shanty and broken down doorway into an alley, suddenly facing a rustic, red brick wall. To the left you see the few rays of light showing you an outlet to a street and to the right you see the end of the alley, staring back at you with no movement and darkness as it displays a half-filled red dumpster, one lid closed and the other open, with trash barely peeking over the rim. The wall looks like it has edges to climb up, you imagine yourself bounding from the three walls to reach the roof of the buildings. Here you'd be able to look at the ground below, avoid your chasers, and slip down a wall and into the sewers unseen. This thought is hindered, though, due to the winged body you drag with you. As you begin to study the passage to the right, figuring tactics and strategies to scale to the wall, your winged 'friend' begins to slightly rustle in your hand. As you notice this, you realize that the family who was just disturbed by your barging through with a massive lump of flesh, screams again as an armored cockroach runs through their living room.

Man, people can't even enjoy T.V. anymore.

Then to your left, from the street, the SCAR model appears, and he approaches you with a rifle pointing at your form, as he focuses through his scope. As he realizes he has found you, he peers above the limited sight of his scope revealing his face, so he can see the person who has been running such a distance, just to be caught in an alleyway.. The being in the armor, now standing directly behind you, in what seems like a flash, pulls out his gun and tells you to release the winged body with a voice that seems demanding, but also professional even in the most hostile of situations. As the gun is pointed at your body, the body that was rustling earlier now slumps out of your arms.

There's only one outlet now, and with new company, you're wary about the chances.
OOC:I realize this is a cliff hanger, but the next time the result is brought up or mentioned, I'm thinking we(myself, Jackal, Shock, A-44, and TX) can come up with a retrospect blurb to post to see the outcome. tell me if you're against that.

3b
Lucien, as your knife releases from the rough skin of the Valar's neck, you stand up and look at the ground around you. All of these Valar bodies, if only a couple, seem to burn an image in your head that seems to denote what the near future may be like. When it comes to killing Valar, there's no cleaning the blood off your hands and hoping they don't find you, but you already knew that. You realize that the two figures, who you know only to the slightest extent if even at all, that appear in front of you are now two of the closest people you have. One of the damn Valar got away, and this is going to come back on all of you, and you know it too.

You peer over at Rose, who looks almost catatonic at this point, on the ground holding her knees. You can see the shame in her eyes, but she looks away as she notices you look at her eyes. You can't help but think of the harm this young girl was in at the beginning of the day and now the burden she has at the end.

As you move your attention towards the newly acquainted Saviour Falcon, he looks at you as he begins to take off his helmet. As the helmet is removed from his head, the first thing you see is a toothy smile that seems to gleam a pure white in the sunlight as his eyes are revealed. He then sticks his hand out to formally greet you, since you were 'occupied' before hand. You hesitantly shake it as he nods at the unspoken pact that seems to have been made once the last Valar died.

Saviour Falcon puts his helmet back on and you see him walk over to Rose and offer his hand to her, and as he does so, she leans on him and begins to sob. You see him pick her up gently into his arms and looks at you and nods to follow him from where he showed up earlier before the encounter. At this point the only option you have is to leave this place, so you easily oblige his offer.

You begin to wonder how circumstances that create moral dilemmas can lead to partnerships in light of the outcome. You realize that after Seth being shot, you are happy that even two people will be with you at this point.

OOC:
Those last sentences are the only 'philosophy' I'm going to be including at this point. Ii'm not going to really do the philosophy thing, so don't worry. I'll have Scene four up later, but I think I'll put it in a different post, just as an organizational thing. To show distinct separation.

END OF SCENE 3

[RobertoBlasini]

SCENE 4: So a Ghost and a Shadow Walk Into a Bar...

4a
You opened the window as the crisp air of over-night Valar destruction flows into your nostrils. The sweet smell of future opportunity. You peer out of the window as you sit in your large red leather chair that you treat as a throne, which many would say is appropriate with your position. Even with the Valar in power for the last ten years, they knew better than to disturb your position. Even the Valar realize they can't disturb those more powerful than they. Well, most of the Valar realize that.

As you peer out of the window, Kane, a servant comes up to your door and knocks on it before entering, "Umm, Mr. Kane, sir, your daily Valar International has arrived." The servant hands him a neatly folded and colorful newspaper with enriched letters and propaganda decorating the front page. Then in a much quieter voice, as to be cautious to who is and isn't listening, says, "Also, here's the Underground, just came in." You've realized the Underground hasn't published an issue recently. You almost had the passing thought that they were stagnating, but you knew better. Your servant, Bernie, walked in and handed you the two newspapers.

As you look down at the International, you see a picture of two dead rebels with the headline, "Valar Building Takes Damage, But Intruders Killed As Soon As Capture". Then you raise the Underground and see the headline, "Prisoners Rescued From Valar and Valar Damaged Once Again," with the sub-headline, "When Will They Learn They Can't Win This Time?"

Seeing this last line sparks an idea in your head, making you think that maybe it IS time for action. The Valar can't win, and by Maria's name, they won't. With the rebels on high like this, they could be a valuable resource, something worth using. With them on your side, you would definitely have the will and ability to strike at the Valar for what they really deserve, but your reputation is also at risk. You're still a highly respected and considered businessman in Valar-controlled Strance. You know that direct interaction with the rebels would immediately make you an enemy. You know, though, that you can think of at least two of your associates that could help: Samuel, the outcast, and your brute 'friend' Minotaur.

Cast:
Kane
Minotaur
Samuel

4b
Throughout the night, during your sleep, you feel rumbles and heard faint crashes and popping sounds. It did not wake you, though, due to your sleep being almost as heavy as the comas you slip in and out of while manifested during the day.

As you awake from your deep sleep, you swing your legs out of your bed and immediately into your wheelchair, and proceed to your constantly dark and tinted position in front of the window. You stare out and see a good amount of Valar marching to the same place, but you can't see the building or the exact location they're marching to. You feel, Shade, you must know what this is about. If it hurt the Valar, you want to keep it that way. But you know where to go to further your investigation.

You must leave your home of solitude and loneliness and visit your 'friend', possibly the only one you have, Garrett the Snitch, your information broker. He will be able to lead you the way towards who did it. There, you believe you can figure out to become involved in the further take down. This is the lead you've been waiting for, the lift. You also know that you've been given a sort of sanction, due to your father being a Valar, so unless you're caught red-handed, you know that you're involvement will help the rebels and help you achieve taking down the regime that stole your father. The time for revenge is now.