Gunther
2012-08-13, 01:32 AM
"This is Amy Wok, live at the perimeter of the latest development. Shocking report, just now filing in in-- Desolate prison under siege! As of twenty minutes ago, internet and radio traffic was flooded with information pertaining to an assault on Seattle's very own superhuman supermax penitentiary!"
The heart-faced Asian reporter so intricately known to most of Seattle had a very cunningly crafted expression of shock and curiosity written across her features, features that were being projected in multiple dimensions from the holographic projector mounted in the room. It was but one of many video feeds and live streams available, albeit the only one with active audio.
"The current status of the attackers is unknown, but Seattle's VIPR team-- as well as a contingent of the Homeland Security department's own counter-terrorism task force-- have been deployed at the outskirts of the devastation. Reports have it that a Vertihawk transport was potentially used in the incident. Our local news team was unable to get a live feed of the devastation due to reports of a potential sniper in the area. Satellite imagery from the Seattle News Network's own orbital relay, however, can help provide you-- our faithful viewer-- with an idea of the situation at hand."
The image shifted to show a satellite feed over the exterior of Desolate prison. Having been built into the remnants of a deep core radioactive material storage facility, the prison's above-ground complex had been reduced to what looked like an urban war zone. A pair of Vertihawks, the VTOL of choice for the Seattle Police Department, had seemingly entangled with one another in a fiery embrace before creating a twenty-yard-long gouge in the concrete streets of the walled-in facility. The front gates, massive thirty-meter-high reinforced titanium doors, had been blasted clean off their hinges on impact. The concrete gatehouse around those doors had crumbled almost effortlessly, leaving a pile of rubble atop the fallen doors. The entire front wall of the facility, some one hundred and twenty feet tall and designed in a fashion reminiscent of a dam, had cracked in places from the detonation. In the right-hand corner of the image was the date: August 3rd, 2099. A day that, for better or worse, would live on in future infamy.
A little data feed, provided by the helpful analysis applications in the computer, presented the highest probability reason (95.6% probability, anyways) for such devastation: A Vertihawk, with a full tank of fuel and four hundred pounds of RDX in the cargo hold rigged to a remote detonator, could have served as a 'Jihad Jet' capable of easily blowing the doors off their reinforced hinges, never mind the damage to the concrete surrounding the detonation site. The crenelated towers
Even now, the open-air courtyard of the prison was a catastrophe. Several dozen dead guards, their gold and black armor, were sprawled out across the paved streets between buildings. Most of them were clustered around the crash site, but groups of dead men could be seen here or there. Towards the middle of the above-ground facility, in the center of an intersection of four pyramid-shaped office arcologies, the lone access shaft to Desolate could be seen. Sixty meters in diameter and piercing into the Earth's crust six kilometers deep, the one and only way into the subterranean prison known as Desolate Penitentiary was currently under heavy guard. A massive main battle tank-- a positively towering vehicle composed of steel and tungsten alloys and proudly displaying its primary cannon (a railgun of no small potency)-- currently stood guard over the circular platform that led down to the base's interior. If anything, it seemed like it had been delivered from that facility, alongside the escort group of gold-and-red armored security guards in full powered armor. Military grade powered armor, even. Bulky drum-fed machine guns were clutched in their arms as both tank and man alike focused their attention on the office building to the southwest of the entry gate.
"The attacker, or attackers, is reported to be pinned down in one of the primary control towers overseeing the prison. The on-site anti-air defenses, designed to keep an aerial assault from successfully penetrating the prison's airspace, are now working against the very people meant to rescue it! Ground teams have begun to move up, albeit keeping their distance due to fear for the lives of the workers held hostage inside." Amy's voice intoned, the camera image fading away as it returned to a live camera feed of the Asian reporter, her face looking stern and serious as a pair of police APCs rolled by in the background. Their reinforced bodies, carried aloft by six sets of puncture proof and high-traction tires, thundered across the urban street. Flashers shone with a brilliant light as the holographic acronym "SWAT" was projected over the exterior plating in urgently flickering orange letters.
"There are no active reports at this time of how many hostages are present at this time. Desolate Penitentiary's press staff have reported that it is on a maximum-security lockdown at the moment, pending intervention from rapid response teams and its own elite paramilitary staff. The Guild of Heroes has made no mention of any potential involvement on its part, but if recent events are any indicator, silence may very well prove to be an indicator of impending intervention from its up-and-coming heroes. As I'm sure our viewers very well remember during the hostage situation at the Gentek clinic last week, the Guild of Heroes ended up having one of their teams-- an up-and-coming group of heroes and heroines-- arrive on-scene to intervene. The ensuing sixteen point five million dollars in damage, and an estimated thirteen deaths of both hostages and hostage takers, put a heavy toll on both the city and the popular image of an organization already clouded in scandal."
"Thanks, Amy." The web anchor's voice cut in, the audio fading back as the feed reduced the size of its display automatically. The relevant video of Desolate was gone, and that was that. "In other news, genetic therapy, is it safe for your kids? A recent study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology indicated..."
The situation seemed fairly straightforward in Desolate, considering the utter lack of information held by both yourselves and law enforcement. As you all sit upon the comfortable couches of the executive office area, an area that sat, soundproof, over the fiery and nightmarish factory of the steel mill, you would all come to enjoy the fruits of your labors to this point. All of you have an interest in, or share of, the steel mill operating even now below you. A facade, mostly, enabling you all to meet here in absolute secrecy and absolute privacy.
One such fruit of your labors was the massive holographic projector in the center of the room. Buzzing consistently, the machine would project a light blue-tinted sphere in the middle of the room. A tint that could be changed at will, of course, but for now remained in its factory default. That sphere was a web of various articles and video streams, ranging from video from the perpetually active steel mill ground floor to the scene currently unfolding at Desolate. Other news articles were also present, having drifted upwards to your attention with a bit of helpful referencing from the in-built search engine.
Other News Of Note
Reports of nations in the Eurasian region, particularly those of the proto-Communist Soviet Directorate, imperial New Roman Empire, and isolationist United Kingdom beginning a number of He3 independence movements. Reports have it that the United Kingdom is constructing a large facility of unknown purpose on Ascension Island, while the Soviets have begun mass deployments of new satellites in geocentric orbit.
Cuba, having opened its borders in recent decades, is currently enjoying not only friendly relations with its close neighbors in the pragmatically communist nation of the People's Democratic Republic of Brazil, but an economic renaissance. Industries on the small island have cropped up seemingly overnight, likely due in thanks to a number of tax breaks and subsidies offered to attract Gentek and its daughter corporations.
Gentek, despite the rash of crimes and robberies facing its clinics, has announced a redoubling of its efforts to modernize both its genetic therapies and the prices it charges for them. These therapies, also known as the process by which the abilities of Supers can be bestowed upon a mortal man (thus creating the current deluge of "Artificial Supers", even if that deluge is tapered somewhat by cost), are a commodity that is at no shortage of market.
Reports of the firebombing of a Gentek clinic has been linked to a growing movement in the undercity of Seattle called the "Crimson Crusade". Stylized as a polytheistic movement with religious undercurrents against the concept of superhumans entirely, the group is gaining momentum amongst the disenfranchised poor. Seattle police chief Gordon Walters has promised to step up efforts to snuff out radical groups.
Seattle's mayor Gordon Hewitt has confirmed the city's plans to open a new entertainment megaplex-- most prominently featuring the city's first "Super Arena". An arena intended for Supers to pit themselves against each other, be it in single combat, team combat, trials, or other such events, in the interest of helping alleviate some of the restlessness and vigilantism running through the city's population of "Superheroes".
Senator Jacob Riley, a representative of the United States Congressional branch, has pushed forward yet another revival of the PATRIOT act-- this one regarding the existence of Supers in everday society. Lawmakers are scrambling to scan over the suggested "Starr Act", intended to help with the overflowing population of Desolate and make for provisions for dealing with Supers now entering into the mainstream society. The Senator will be stopping by to pay a personal visit to Mayor Hewitt and answer a few questions from the associated press at a conference at city hall.
Major Starr, the "All American Superhero" and currently enlisted Major in the United States Army, has begun the first leg of his cross-country tour. Focusing on the ideals and opportunities for Supers in the military, as well as the Government's programs intended to help subsidize some of the cost of preexisting debts for Supers, Major Starr ("Captain Sellout" as he's less popularly known) is poised to begin a sweeping recruitment drive. His first stop will be in Seattle, the inner city's chapter of the Guild of Heroes in particular.
All in all, it seems like Seattle is busy at this time of year. The turn of the century should prove very, very interesting, to say the least. For now, Desolate was an active center of violence-- a burgeoning prison filled with every last Super"villain" and other Super-empowered criminal in the entire United States. Though it was designed as a supermax, already a single man had managed to penetrate its walls. Almost reaching into the core of the facility below. Almost.
Of course, what took place from here was up to the four people currently seated in that room. The fifth person, standing, was irrelevant: Jenkins, a flesh-and-blood butler of aging years and meticulous talent. A silver platter carrying a fine china teapot and appropriate teacups was balanced flawlessly on his left arm, his back rigid in posture as he blankly stared off into the distance, awaiting the commands of any so present.
This would be where the Crimson Age began.
The heart-faced Asian reporter so intricately known to most of Seattle had a very cunningly crafted expression of shock and curiosity written across her features, features that were being projected in multiple dimensions from the holographic projector mounted in the room. It was but one of many video feeds and live streams available, albeit the only one with active audio.
"The current status of the attackers is unknown, but Seattle's VIPR team-- as well as a contingent of the Homeland Security department's own counter-terrorism task force-- have been deployed at the outskirts of the devastation. Reports have it that a Vertihawk transport was potentially used in the incident. Our local news team was unable to get a live feed of the devastation due to reports of a potential sniper in the area. Satellite imagery from the Seattle News Network's own orbital relay, however, can help provide you-- our faithful viewer-- with an idea of the situation at hand."
The image shifted to show a satellite feed over the exterior of Desolate prison. Having been built into the remnants of a deep core radioactive material storage facility, the prison's above-ground complex had been reduced to what looked like an urban war zone. A pair of Vertihawks, the VTOL of choice for the Seattle Police Department, had seemingly entangled with one another in a fiery embrace before creating a twenty-yard-long gouge in the concrete streets of the walled-in facility. The front gates, massive thirty-meter-high reinforced titanium doors, had been blasted clean off their hinges on impact. The concrete gatehouse around those doors had crumbled almost effortlessly, leaving a pile of rubble atop the fallen doors. The entire front wall of the facility, some one hundred and twenty feet tall and designed in a fashion reminiscent of a dam, had cracked in places from the detonation. In the right-hand corner of the image was the date: August 3rd, 2099. A day that, for better or worse, would live on in future infamy.
A little data feed, provided by the helpful analysis applications in the computer, presented the highest probability reason (95.6% probability, anyways) for such devastation: A Vertihawk, with a full tank of fuel and four hundred pounds of RDX in the cargo hold rigged to a remote detonator, could have served as a 'Jihad Jet' capable of easily blowing the doors off their reinforced hinges, never mind the damage to the concrete surrounding the detonation site. The crenelated towers
Even now, the open-air courtyard of the prison was a catastrophe. Several dozen dead guards, their gold and black armor, were sprawled out across the paved streets between buildings. Most of them were clustered around the crash site, but groups of dead men could be seen here or there. Towards the middle of the above-ground facility, in the center of an intersection of four pyramid-shaped office arcologies, the lone access shaft to Desolate could be seen. Sixty meters in diameter and piercing into the Earth's crust six kilometers deep, the one and only way into the subterranean prison known as Desolate Penitentiary was currently under heavy guard. A massive main battle tank-- a positively towering vehicle composed of steel and tungsten alloys and proudly displaying its primary cannon (a railgun of no small potency)-- currently stood guard over the circular platform that led down to the base's interior. If anything, it seemed like it had been delivered from that facility, alongside the escort group of gold-and-red armored security guards in full powered armor. Military grade powered armor, even. Bulky drum-fed machine guns were clutched in their arms as both tank and man alike focused their attention on the office building to the southwest of the entry gate.
"The attacker, or attackers, is reported to be pinned down in one of the primary control towers overseeing the prison. The on-site anti-air defenses, designed to keep an aerial assault from successfully penetrating the prison's airspace, are now working against the very people meant to rescue it! Ground teams have begun to move up, albeit keeping their distance due to fear for the lives of the workers held hostage inside." Amy's voice intoned, the camera image fading away as it returned to a live camera feed of the Asian reporter, her face looking stern and serious as a pair of police APCs rolled by in the background. Their reinforced bodies, carried aloft by six sets of puncture proof and high-traction tires, thundered across the urban street. Flashers shone with a brilliant light as the holographic acronym "SWAT" was projected over the exterior plating in urgently flickering orange letters.
"There are no active reports at this time of how many hostages are present at this time. Desolate Penitentiary's press staff have reported that it is on a maximum-security lockdown at the moment, pending intervention from rapid response teams and its own elite paramilitary staff. The Guild of Heroes has made no mention of any potential involvement on its part, but if recent events are any indicator, silence may very well prove to be an indicator of impending intervention from its up-and-coming heroes. As I'm sure our viewers very well remember during the hostage situation at the Gentek clinic last week, the Guild of Heroes ended up having one of their teams-- an up-and-coming group of heroes and heroines-- arrive on-scene to intervene. The ensuing sixteen point five million dollars in damage, and an estimated thirteen deaths of both hostages and hostage takers, put a heavy toll on both the city and the popular image of an organization already clouded in scandal."
"Thanks, Amy." The web anchor's voice cut in, the audio fading back as the feed reduced the size of its display automatically. The relevant video of Desolate was gone, and that was that. "In other news, genetic therapy, is it safe for your kids? A recent study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology indicated..."
The situation seemed fairly straightforward in Desolate, considering the utter lack of information held by both yourselves and law enforcement. As you all sit upon the comfortable couches of the executive office area, an area that sat, soundproof, over the fiery and nightmarish factory of the steel mill, you would all come to enjoy the fruits of your labors to this point. All of you have an interest in, or share of, the steel mill operating even now below you. A facade, mostly, enabling you all to meet here in absolute secrecy and absolute privacy.
One such fruit of your labors was the massive holographic projector in the center of the room. Buzzing consistently, the machine would project a light blue-tinted sphere in the middle of the room. A tint that could be changed at will, of course, but for now remained in its factory default. That sphere was a web of various articles and video streams, ranging from video from the perpetually active steel mill ground floor to the scene currently unfolding at Desolate. Other news articles were also present, having drifted upwards to your attention with a bit of helpful referencing from the in-built search engine.
Other News Of Note
Reports of nations in the Eurasian region, particularly those of the proto-Communist Soviet Directorate, imperial New Roman Empire, and isolationist United Kingdom beginning a number of He3 independence movements. Reports have it that the United Kingdom is constructing a large facility of unknown purpose on Ascension Island, while the Soviets have begun mass deployments of new satellites in geocentric orbit.
Cuba, having opened its borders in recent decades, is currently enjoying not only friendly relations with its close neighbors in the pragmatically communist nation of the People's Democratic Republic of Brazil, but an economic renaissance. Industries on the small island have cropped up seemingly overnight, likely due in thanks to a number of tax breaks and subsidies offered to attract Gentek and its daughter corporations.
Gentek, despite the rash of crimes and robberies facing its clinics, has announced a redoubling of its efforts to modernize both its genetic therapies and the prices it charges for them. These therapies, also known as the process by which the abilities of Supers can be bestowed upon a mortal man (thus creating the current deluge of "Artificial Supers", even if that deluge is tapered somewhat by cost), are a commodity that is at no shortage of market.
Reports of the firebombing of a Gentek clinic has been linked to a growing movement in the undercity of Seattle called the "Crimson Crusade". Stylized as a polytheistic movement with religious undercurrents against the concept of superhumans entirely, the group is gaining momentum amongst the disenfranchised poor. Seattle police chief Gordon Walters has promised to step up efforts to snuff out radical groups.
Seattle's mayor Gordon Hewitt has confirmed the city's plans to open a new entertainment megaplex-- most prominently featuring the city's first "Super Arena". An arena intended for Supers to pit themselves against each other, be it in single combat, team combat, trials, or other such events, in the interest of helping alleviate some of the restlessness and vigilantism running through the city's population of "Superheroes".
Senator Jacob Riley, a representative of the United States Congressional branch, has pushed forward yet another revival of the PATRIOT act-- this one regarding the existence of Supers in everday society. Lawmakers are scrambling to scan over the suggested "Starr Act", intended to help with the overflowing population of Desolate and make for provisions for dealing with Supers now entering into the mainstream society. The Senator will be stopping by to pay a personal visit to Mayor Hewitt and answer a few questions from the associated press at a conference at city hall.
Major Starr, the "All American Superhero" and currently enlisted Major in the United States Army, has begun the first leg of his cross-country tour. Focusing on the ideals and opportunities for Supers in the military, as well as the Government's programs intended to help subsidize some of the cost of preexisting debts for Supers, Major Starr ("Captain Sellout" as he's less popularly known) is poised to begin a sweeping recruitment drive. His first stop will be in Seattle, the inner city's chapter of the Guild of Heroes in particular.
All in all, it seems like Seattle is busy at this time of year. The turn of the century should prove very, very interesting, to say the least. For now, Desolate was an active center of violence-- a burgeoning prison filled with every last Super"villain" and other Super-empowered criminal in the entire United States. Though it was designed as a supermax, already a single man had managed to penetrate its walls. Almost reaching into the core of the facility below. Almost.
Of course, what took place from here was up to the four people currently seated in that room. The fifth person, standing, was irrelevant: Jenkins, a flesh-and-blood butler of aging years and meticulous talent. A silver platter carrying a fine china teapot and appropriate teacups was balanced flawlessly on his left arm, his back rigid in posture as he blankly stared off into the distance, awaiting the commands of any so present.
This would be where the Crimson Age began.