Justice League Vol. 1

[Lentrax]

Issue One.


Children of the Sun

Metropolis.

The sun is just rising over the roofs of buildings, glittering off the glass and steel exoskeletons of the majestic city. Already hard at work are the good men and women of the Daily Planet, who, this mornings editions are already at news stands across the city, have began work in earnest on tomorrow's stories.

Today's front page is emblazoned with a picture of Zar-Vex during her rescue of the International Space Station:


WHO IS SUPERWOMAN?
By Lois Lane

All across our city, I hear the same question on everyone's lips.

"Who is she?" "When will she invade?" "Can the government
stop her?" All these and more permeate the word on the streets.

We know nothing about this mysterious woman, except that she,
by her own admission, isn't human. So what, then, is she? Where
is she from? What does she want from us? Until we hear more from
either her or Washington, we have only the scattered reports of

The rest of the article vanishes below the fold of the newspaper.

Of course, articles about aliens are not new these days, nor is the tale spun in a local diner of some encounter with a new superhero. These are becoming all to commonplace today.

The local office of the DEO is currently tracking a series of new threats, none of which seem to require their intervention.

Lexcorp rises up in the distance. According to the rumors on the internet, and the news, they are working on some new detection system, but there has been no official statement from Lex Luthor as of yet.

As the sun begins to clear the rooftops of the buildings, light fills Centennial Park. Kids start playing and the sounds of their laughter fills the early morning air. People start their own routines, going shopping, or driving to work. All around the city, life goes on as it should.

Atlantis

Beneath the waves, deep in the ocean, far from the eyes of the dry earthers, the city of Atlantis rises from the ocean floor. From a distance, the city is serene, almost tranquil. BUt as one approaches its rising domes, you can tell something is not quite right. Air is pouring out of the glittering central dome. Within the Great Hall of Leucothea, the writing body of one of the invaders begins to still as the spears are plunged into the oil black body time and again.

Standing within the swell of soldiers attacking the last of today's invasion is Mera, Queen of Atlantis.

As the body begins to dissolve, General Glaucus turns to Mera to deliver the report.

"This, my Queen, was the last of the latest assault upon Atlantis. We still do not know how they are entering our city, or where they are coming from."

Giza, Egypt

The stars glitter over the Nile valley. Cairo slumbers peacefully just a scant few kilometers away as the sands of the desert begin to glow. It is perhaps ironic, that the first to take note of the historic moment is a postgrad archaeology student from Cambridge who is attending the dig as a way of gaining credit in her field. Taking her phone, she begins streaming the event. The sands, normally a dull color in the shadows of night, are now beginning to glow, at first a low glimmer, but they soon begin to intensify.

"And stranger yet," she says to her stream in her London accent. "Is that you can see that it is not a general phenomenon. See there?"

She points out toward the desert beyond the Pyramid of Khufu. "Whatever this is, is pointing out to the open desert. I am going to follow the trail and see where it leads."

She does just that, talking to whoever may be watching her stream. She clears a dune, and the jostling to the camera, as well as the new angle hints that the girl has ducked or laid down atop the sand dune, to look at something down below. The camera doesn't show anything but open sky for a moment, but the angle soon changes to take in the student's face.

"There's something just over the there, I don't know what it is. It looks to be a huge structure, along the lines of ancient Egyptian architecture from the Tanis dynasty. I didn't get a good look, but there is something going on over there. There are vehicles that are flying from the main structure and-"

Another voice, deep and with a hint of some kind of what sounds like electronic masking, shouts something in a language unknown to anyone on Earth.

The student screams, and seems to drop her phone, a conclusion supported by the sight of the student appearing a moment later, being held by an arm by a figure that looks like a man with the head of a jackal. The student screams at her phone, laying on the ground.

"HELP ME! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, HELP ME, SOMEBODY!"

The man-thing notices the device on the ground, and with a swift up and down motion, slams a staff onto the phone, shattering it, and ending her stream in a blast of feedback and static.

[Arcran]

Undisclosed Location

Goddamn it Abby, you swear you're not cheating? Jackson 'Zeus' Smith says as he loses his third straight hand, throwing another wad of cash down as he snuffs his cigar out on the table.

Abigail smirks as she pulls the pot in, feeling Zeus' anger as she gently scans his mind, occasionally looking through the burly soldier's mind. What, me, cheat? No, Abigail says in an entirely unconvincing tone. Platon 'Poseidon' Giorgos scoots back in his seat loudly, sighing as he does so. Damn it, first round's on you, the man says, towering over Athena without even trying. The boys in the lab said that Platon's gene mods made him peak human, but Abigail knew that he'd left that behind long ago. After all, you have to be a special kind of crazy to fight aliens with a god damn trident.

If you insist, Abigail states, before stuffing the wad of cash into her pocket. Like hell I'm drinking the crap here though. Zeus, you still flight certified? Abigail asks, already knowing the answer.

Hell yes I am, the man says, a few sparks running between the tips of his hair. A spark shoots across the room, and a pair of keys are in his hand in an instant. And since we have the Golden Girl, we won't even get in trouble, Zeus jokes, earning him a light punch on the arm from Abigail.

Maybe if you lot didn't slack off so much, you could get your own supersuits. Just learn to read minds, Abigail says, earning a bitter laugh from Poseidon.

The group continues towards the hangar, gently ribbing each other all the while, with Abigail occasionally skirting them around one of the bases' soldiers that adhered a bit more strictly to flight rules.

[RickAllison]

Gotham City

Today was the day, a day that Lillian Rose had been waiting for for years. Media flunkeys mingle outside the secret base of the Gotham City Sirens, just hoping to catch a glimpse of the rare sight that awaited them inside. Cameras were set, artificial lighting in place, and Lillian was lovingly tending to the star of the show, Tali...

Corypha umbraculifera, the talipot palm. Lillian recognized the signature budding of the branches that precedes the legendary event of this stranger to the Gotham ecology. The tree only flowers once in its life, and that bloom takes decades, and today marked the beginning of Tali's final gift to the world. Lillian already had plans to cultivate the resultant seeds, and had colleagues across the country eager to accept a few to grow in greenhouses or other area.

The doors open and the media lackeys saunter in, posting in the best lighting spots atop ladders to really capture the first blooms. These aren't the famous reporters like rising star James Olsen or Vicki Vale, but Lillian appreciated that the news agencies at least acknowledge the major event that this blooming represents. Vale might even come out herself when the bloom is in full force! Meanwhile, Lillian Rose continued about her business tending to the plants of the Giordano Botanical Gardens. Maybe I should invite Selina over for lunch?
Harley needs some cheering up, and Selina's been operating independently for a while now. Barbara's acting up too...

[CandyLaser]

Metropolis, 10:46:03 AM.

The gunman brought his gun around, aiming it at the bank teller. His shouted threats left the teller paralyzed with fear. Anna was almost a mile away she found out about the situation. She turned west, cranked up her time dilation field to its maximum setting, and took off.

The gunman squeezed the trigger. When Anna came in, the room seemed to be frozen. The bullet was just exiting the barrel, and the recoil forced the gun up some small fraction of an inch. The teller was petrified, his face just beginning to form a shocked grimace, while the gunman looked on, his features hidden by a stars-and-stripes clown mask. Three other thieves were positioned around the lobby, each wearing clown masks of their own.

Anna walked up to the shooter and looked him in the eyes. There was nothing there but anger, nothing to indicate that he cared that he was about to take a human life. With a sigh, she reached out and gently, almost imperceptibly, shoved him backward. Faint ripples formed on his suit, slowly propagating across him, as he began to fly backward, so slowly that his motion was almost invisible.

Then she walked over to the next criminal. He hadn't fired yet, so she gave the barrel of his gun a little flick with her fingernail, then softly nudged the man's chin with her knuckles. The third thief she simply shoulder-checked as she walked by on her way to the fourth. And for that one, she put her fist up to his stomach and gave him a subtle little tap. Then she left, walking out as calmly as she came in.

It wasn't until she made it three blocks before she realized what she'd forgotten. With a sigh, she turned around and headed back to the bank. The bullet had made it halfway to the teller now. The gunman was hoveriving in midair, horizontal, about ten feet away from where he'd been. His partners in crime were similarly in disarray. The second thief was upside-down, as if he'd been frozen in the middle of a backflip. The third was sprawled out, eyes wide in shock behind his mask, as he was caught in the middle of hurtling toward the wall. And the fourth looked as if someone had attached a hook to his back and was hauling him out of the room, so fast that his feet had left the floor completely.

As she passed, Anna decided that the one who'd actually pulled the trigger deserved a little reminder as to why you don't do that. She gently patted his stomach in mid air, and his course altered - rather than just flying backward, he was now headed mostly straight for the floor. She narrowed her eyes at the bullet, and there was a ripple in the air as space itself twisted. The the bullet suddenly veered upward, toward the ceiling, moving at right angles to its former trajectory.

She turned time back on.

The thieves flew across the room, landing heavily in the blink of an eye. The gunman hit the floor so hard he bounced. The one she'd shoulder checked slammed into the drywall and left a dent. The one she'd tapped on the chin finished his midair somersault and collapsed in a heap on the floor. The fourth and final thief flew a couple feet back, then hit the polished tile floor of the bank and skidded to halt against a desk. And the bullet zinged up to the roof and made a hole in the drop ceiling.

Anna nodded to herself. It was a job well done.

Metropolis, 10:46:04 AM.

[NineOfSpades]

Queen Mera stood back from the spasms of the dying creature, her eyes trained on its sublimating form, mindful of the ichor which drizzled from the wounds that had already been inflicted. She’d have much preferred a chance to interrogate the creature, even if the results of any such endeavor were at best dubious and unlikely to yield any valuable intelligence. But all of that would be pointless now, since the subject in question had already lost cohesion, denying her even a corpse to autopsy.

Mera was troubled, that much was certain. Her demeanor was firm and radiated a stern confidence, but these attacks were a weight that lingered on her mind. When she had first ascended to the throne, the invaders had largely been driven out of her seas, but they remained a persistent threat that had crept back before long and was steadily rebuilding their strength. The damage of this mornings assult seemed largely contained. The breach in the dome could be readily repaired and electrolysis would quickly replace the lost oxygen. Taken on it’s own, it was a failed assault. Taken in the context of the larger battle, it was another needling strike against her forces and their moral. Every such strike was another message to the people that they were not protected, was a reminder that the military seemed entirely incapable of stopping the assailants until they’d already breached the outer defenses, and would force her to expend resources repairing the damage.

“General, cordon off the area and the surrounding buildings from the public until they can be checked. Make sure there are no infiltrators in our midst that have gone undetected. Expect an engineering crew within the hour to see to the dome’s repairs. Furthermore…” She trailed off a moment, but raised a hand to prevent any interruptions. Her gaze lost its focus, as her thoughts extended out from the immediate surroundings and towards infinity.

For the briefest of moments, she touched all the creatures of her domain. The soldiers of her personal guard, standing at the ready, the mother humpback and her newborn calf making the journey along the eastern coast of the pacific, the clownfish eagerly lapping up the flakes of food that had been absently tossed into it’s bowl atop the desk of a commodities trader in Hong Kong, to the uncountable mass of Antarctic krill that swarmed in numbers so fast that they could be seen from space. She felt the minds of a school of dolphins gleefully darting in and out of the waves, the gulls who eagerly scanned the beaches for human waste, and the somber march of crabs along the seabed of the Bering Strait, to the uncomplicated presence of barnacles that clung to the helm of The Titanic as they filtered nutrients from the currents, and even the all but imperceptible fear of the microscopic plankton that became trapped in the barnacles gullet. For one moment, Mera was in tune with all of them, all the creatures of this world who had every called her oceans their home. Three billion tonnes of life, spread over the waters of the world. For all the power at her command, be it political, mystical, or physical, perhaps her greatest ability was access to the fastest and most complex network of informants on the planet.

With the slightest effort of will, she focused on the marine life closest to her physically, excluding the minds of her citizens, directing her message to the fish that glided through the eternal twilight of the deep sea near to Atlantis. Her thoughts issued forth, transcending any barriers of intelligence or consciousness to reach the intended recipients. Your queen has need of your service. An invader, something which does not belong in the seas has attacked the city she briefly broadcast a mental image of the inky black being as it had appeared prior to being set upon by her soldiers. I need to know from whence it came and how it found access into the city.

Using Mera’s “Talk to Fish” ability (Communicate 4 (Anywhere on earth)+Comprehend (Marine life) to try and collect information about where the aliens came from and how they got inside. Limiting the communication to fish within, oh, lets say a 10 mile radius of the city. If any rolls are needed, let me know and I’ll attempt them in the OOC thread.

[BananaPhone]

http://i1248.photobucket.com/albums/hh483/tempestII/supergirl__sale_on_e_bay_now_____by_carlosbragaart 80-d9c74he_1.jpg?t=1497396673 Zar-vex, Superwoman


Somewhere Near the Mexican Gulf

Dripping water echoed off of the slick, slimy interior of the caves as a long boy shivered and clasped his coat tighter about himself. He had spent so long walking in the belief that he knew the way out. But for every turn he had taken, every stretch of tunnel covered, he had only plunged deeper and deeper into a network of underground hallways with only the torch-light of his receptionless cell-phone to guide him. Having almost given up, he had curled up against a nook in a craggy hallway, his eyes staring at the small, clear underground creek that ran past him, while behind him lay the broken reason he had even ventured in this far - a motorosed boat drone. Glaring at the toy that he'd chased into these caves, he looked about and wondered how he'd ever get out of here. He could tell by the time on his phone that by now it was dark on the surface, while its diminishing battery gave him little hope of ever making it out.

"Juan?" a soft voice echoed through the caves.

Snapping his head about, peering down and then up the hallway for the source of that word. The resonation of the hallways made precise location impossible...at least for his hearing.

"Juan?"

From the darkness she stepped forth, her angular features framed by a head of yellowed hair.

"There you are!"

Bedecked in an attire that was strange, foreign but unusually familiar, she offered a smile and extended forth one hand that the boy looked at first in puzzlement before seizing with his own.

Without even thinking, words poured from the boys mouth as apprehension gave way to child-like relief. No longer holding her hand, he quickly closed that last foot or so of distance and wrapped his arms around her, plunging his face into her abdomen for the security and protection of an adult. "Por favor, ayúdame a perder, estoy perdido en la cueva y no puedo encontrar mi salida!"

"I - I can't, understand?" she said, almost laughing as she did so - her lack of fear and humor at the moment going some way to reassure the child, even if on a subliminal level.

As the boy looked up at her face, she tapped one of her ears with her right fingers then shook her head - she couldn't understand him.

"¿Sordo? ¿Sólo habla inglés?"

Looking the boy over, Zar-vex nodded her head, her bright smile still present, "Inglés!" she nodded, then thought for a moment - her mind racing back to some earth sitcoms she'd watched.

"Sea?"

Slowly nodding in response, "Sí, sí..." he returned.

"Oh, Sí! Si." Zar-vex corrected her minor inflection. For the first time the boy smiled slightly, his arms still around her waist.

Tilting her head back slightly so that she could look over her shoulder, Zar-vex pointed to the downed drone that lay several feet behind the lad. "Is that yours?" she asked with a gesture. Looking over his shoulder, the boy seemed almost bashful as he spotted the reason he was in here in the first place, a solemn nod his only response.

Gently pulling herself away from the kids grasp, Zar-vex approached the broken toy and picked it up. Turning it over several times in her hands in inspection, she looked back at the kid, "looks broken," she said, knowing he couldn't understand her, "we can't let all this be for nothing, can we?"

Looking back at the toy drone, Zar-vex peered beyond its outter shell - her X-ray vision granting her clairvoyance into its machinery as even her rudimentary knowledge of earth tech allowed her to spot the problem right away. Opening the drone up, she reached inside with two fingers, moved some hard plastic out of the way, pulled a metal wire here, tucked another one there before finally her eyes emitted a warm, orange glow as her precise control over her heat vision allowed her to weld together two broken metal items - much to the boys astonishment.

Closing the drone back up, she turned to the lad and handed it over.

"Sí?"

Grabbing at his controls, the boy pressed several buttons and his eyes widened as the drone sprung back to life - its rear propeller spinning and its rudders moving back and forth in response to his commands.

"¡Gracias! Muchas gracias! Mi papá me lo dio y pensé que estaba roto para siempre!" words streamed forward as he grabbed her in a tight hug again.

"Hah, it's okay, don't worry about it," Zar-vex responded, rubbing her hand through the kids hair as she once again softly pulled away. This time she took him by the hand and gestured to where she had come from.

"Come'on, let's get you out of here - I'll walk you back to the entrance. Your parents are worried sick."


oOo


The details of the earth blurred into a canvas below as Superwoman rocketed off into the atmosphere. Blessed with hearing that stretched out for hundreds of miles, the Kryptonian slowly barrel rolled in the sky as the words of all below drifted into her ears - their words of warmth, anger, frustration, wonder, gratitude and pleas. Above all the piercing sounds of multiple sirens and gunfire grabbed Superwomans attention, as she tilted her head to peer at the horizon and zoom in with binocular vision no mortal could ever match.

Spotting her next place to be, the Kryptonian turned herself about and shot forth, the air about her ruffled in a sonic-boom! from her velocity as her red cape billowing voluminously above her.

[userpay]

Just Outside Los Angeles

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEE-*THUNK*p BEEP BEEP BEEP

A groan heralds Flint's wakefulness though not his willingness to finish silencing the alarm clock he'd just knocked off the nightstand. The pile of sheets further cocooning the "young" adult as he tries to get away from the irritating sound. "Master Geode, it's time to get up." Groan. "Must we play this out every morning?" And affirmative sounding groan answers him, the walls themselves sighing as the spirit of the house looks on. "Very well then." Light floods the room as the curtains move of their own accord. The sun beaming through indicating that it wasn't just past morning but well into the afternoon.

"Master Geode do I need to fetch the mattress?"

"How many times have I told you to stop calling me master?" Flint grumbles, finally poking his head out and blinking in the bright light.

"I believe well over nine thousand times sir. It is a sign of respect I have for you bringing me to the state I am in now."

"But not to stop calling me that?"

"...Unfortunately you don't command that much respect sir." This time it's Flint's turn to sigh at Pyrite's amused tune. While the spirit had grown to be ever polite since they first met he never truly lost that mild sarcastic streak, it just popped out whenever it fit with the spirits butler persona.

"Right right..." Flint finally climbs out of bed, walking down the hallway towards the bathroom. The small amethyst over the bedroom door blinking softly as he passed through. "Anything of note happen while I was asleep?"

"Lets see here..." The clearing of Pyrite's voice echoed down the hallway. "Customer influx is about normal for the morning crowd, temperatures are on the rise, nothing inherently magical detected..."

[Lentrax]

London

The earthquake struck in the middle of the night. For most people, the tremors were too low to be felt at first. The first sign that anything was wrong was when the Thames began to shake. Then, the Eye collapsed. Shortly after, something began to rise up from the middle of the river.

Beijing

The Forbidden Palace toppled over as it collapsed. Just as the dawn light touched the city, the ground split open and it began to rise. Shining obsidian, throwing back far more light than should have been possible, it blinds those who saw it rising from the ground.

Rio de Janeiro

Christo Redentor still stands, a monument to the amount of faith attributed to the statue. But forevermore will it live with its arms outstretched, not in salvation for the masses, but as the revealer for the object rising from the city beneath it. The shining black stone, in a column rises up into the dusky sky.

Gotham City

"Midtown will never look the same," one of Joker's mooks quipped as the square column rises up straight through the middle of Wayne Plaza. 50 meters to a side, the edges of the polished stone look sharp enough to cut. Which they do to several people who were unfortunate enough o not be able to get out of the way.

***

The process of rising took only a minute, but it was a minute that rocked the world, for nothing thus far, not heroes, nor villain ever been truly on a global scale. And for a moment, nothing seemed to happen. Another minute. And another.

First responders arrive on scene. Police cordon off the obelisks, for that is what they were. There was no question of that once the dust settled. Square columns, tapering to a point and finished with a capstone. Obelisk. They even had writing of some kind on them, though thus far, no one had any idea of what they could mean.

But humanity was bound and determined to find out what they were. And this news, being in so many cities at the same time, cut over programming on every major channel. Radio changed topics to the emerging events.

[RickAllison]

Giordano Botanical Gardens, Gotham

As the gardens shake, Ivy subtly manipulates the plants in the garden to catch reporters, to hold that ladder, to support that buckling pillar. Everyone, to the emergency exit! Lillian picks up a small girl who had fallen in an enclosure, and sent her outside with a flower. In a bit, the quake stopped.

Regrettably, the botanical gardens will be closed until we have ensured that the structure is safe. I recommend that you stay outside here for an hour or so, in case of afterquakes as the park here is relatively safe. We will provide food and beverages to anyone who is stuck here due to the crisis. If you must head into the city, because of friends or family, take care and run from secure places to others in bursts! Thank you. Going back inside, Lillian coaxes the fruit trees to produce and soon she has a platter of all kinds of fruit, especially exotic ones, along with coconut milk and other drinks derived from her plants, which she takes out to anyone remaining outside.

[CandyLaser]

While she wasn't anywhere near close enough to any of the incidents to feel the tremors, Anna was near enough to a television to see when the news broke. Well, well. This is interesting. Not really my bailiwick, but then again no one told me I should start fighting crime, either. The nearest obelisk was in Gotham; she could be there in the blink of an eye. And that's exactly what happened. In one moment, she was in Metropolis, watching the news unfold on a big screen mounted on the facade of the Daily Planet building. In the next, she was in Gotham.

At least, that's what it looked like from an outsider's perspective. For Anna, it was a different experience. The world seemed to be frozen in place as she strolled casually along the roads from Metropolis to Gotham. She shifted herself out of phase for the trip, and indeed made herself invisible as well, bending light around her so that her trip was almost completely unnoticeable. Even the blue streaks that normally swirled around the border of her physics distortion field were hidden by the warped light. That let her travel more directly, but it didn't make the walk seem any shorter. She could alter her own perception of time somewhat, and she did just that, which helped - and for the rest, well, that was what audiobooks were for.

No one noticed the arrival of another onlooker at Wayne Plaza. Anna appeared up on one of the roofs overlooking the square and took in the scene.

[NineOfSpades]

Amid her communion with the oceanic life, Mera felt the wave coming before it reached Atlantis. Across millions of fish, the shock of the erupting obelisk vibrated through the waters of the planet, creating a ripple of momentary confusion. The most prominent one was near the English Isle, though there were similar quakes radiating out from the Coastlines of North and South America, as well as Asia. Four in total, highly localized Earthquakes. Directing her attention to a school of Trout in the Themes, she learned of the obelisk that had risen there.

Mera’s eyes darted back and forth as she did some mental calculations, gauging the rate of the vibrations progression. “General, put the fleet on standby, something is happening on the surface and it’s global. Expect Tremors from the shockwaves to reach our position in approximately 30 minutes. Damage will likely be minimal but I’ll want the dome fortified before then. I’m departing for the surface to investigate.”

Mera did not wait for a response, since she had already reached her own conclusions on the best way to handle this situation. Whether her subjects agreed with her or not, the fact remained that the undersea cities of her kingdom could no longer count on their inaccessible locations to protect them from events on the surface. What threatened the world above threatened them as well. As such, she was obligated to intervene and put an end if the matter at hand called for it. A more pragmatic part of her noted that, if the people of the surface were indeed in danger, then this might also prove an opportunity to better her standing. London was a seat of western power that had stood for centuries and remained a powerhouse on the world stage. Coming to it’s aid now could do nothing but improve her standing.

At her top speed, Mera crossed the distance from Atlantis to London in just under two hours. During that time, she remained in telepathic communication with her military and advisors, altering the seven cities in her realm to elevated status, overseeing the repairs to the Atlantean Dome, and monitoring the situation as best she could at the other Obelisks. She also reached out to the more exotic creatures in her realm, the dread bests that haunted the surface folklore and so frequently appeared off the edges of their maps. Having these beasts on hand where she needed them would be in her best interests.

The water rushing through her gills changed noticeably as she neared her destination, the clear and crisp salt waters becoming intermeshed with the rivers fresh water. Though ‘fresh’ was hardly fitting. Generation after generation of human waste and pollution had stained even the riverbead, giving the waters a foul and metallic taste. Thankfully, she only needed endure for a moment, her speed carrying her up-current until the obelisk came into sight.

With an extra strong kick, Mera propelled herself out of the water, sending a spray of droplets into the air along with her breach, leaping up and over the artificial riverbanks and onto the streets of London, perhaps one hundred meters or so (to use the local measurements) from where the pillar broke through the water’s surface. She looked around; making note that she was inside the ring of local constabulary that had been erected to keep the gawking and curious masses at a safe distance.

The queen singled out the nearest policemen, and approached him, unconcerned with the eyes of the locals that had turned on her or their camera-phones as they flashed with stroboscopic rythem. “You there, Lawmen, alert the ranking on site officer that Queen Mera of Atlantis has arrived to lend her aid. Tell them that the people of Britain have the support of Atlantis at this time, and that she wishes to see our people coordinate to ensure that the safety and well being of this city and its people are ensured against whatever potential threat has been presented."



I guess this'll be a persuasion attempt to make a positive impression?

Persuasion: [roll0]

[RickAllison]

Plants are not quite as uncommunicative as they seem, releasing scents to tell about dangers, opportunities, and other important occurrences. A commonly experienced example of this is the smell of freshly mowed grass, which is a cry for help by the plants to predators such as wasps that would love to munch on the insects devouring the grass. Well this compound was smelled by Ivy this exciting morning.

From beyond her range, she could almost track the path of a mysterious entity who trampled grass from the middle of Gotham to far away in what seemed to be an instant. No one moved that fast in Ivy's experience , so who did this? Loosing her crimson hair and taking on the green pigment that acted as her greatest disguise, Poison Ivy erupted from the ground atop a large root from under a nearby park and cast out plants to use as an express skyway, following the scent of the grass that would still cling to this newcomer's elephantine feet.

Ivy doesn't really think Anna's feet are elephantine, but she is using hyperbole for how she crushed the plants. I am assuming based on Anna's light touches sending criminals flying that doing the same to grass would not fare well for the delicate plants.

[userpay]

"Oh dear... Master Geode I'm afraid there's an urgent matter that has come to my attention."

"Yea yea I felt... Something. Not quite a ripple but the leyline feels different." Flint steps out of the shower, quickly toweling off amidst the billowing steam. "What's the word?"

"As before nothing detected within our usual radius however there's been four simultaneous events around the globe that may need your attention. Showing it on the mirror now." An image flickers to life within said mirror however it was distorted due to the layer of water the steam had deposited on it. With a sigh Flint walks over to wipe the surface off. Four different views, four different locations, all showing the same type of object. Some sort of obelisk.

"The hell..." Flint's eye pauses on the feed that is labelled for Gotham City but then goes back to looking over all of them. "This certainly smacks of something in our wheelhouse, even if it didn't it bears looking into. Prep the Cycle and a portal. While I'm sure others will be swarming over the things lets head to the one in Gotham. Least we can meet with Ivy when we get there so we have a local in on the situation."

"As you wish sir." Flint jogs back down the hallway to his bedroom to dress, placing a hand over the quartz next to his bed which flashes green before a familiar weight settles about his waist. The belt with it's accompanying rings. So armed sets back off down the hallway towards his workshop, Triggering the belt and slipping on the amethyst and emerald rings as the magic seal forms in front of him.

"Magic Armament, Form Geode." As the seal plays across his body Flint's armor manifests in the wake of the pseudo portal that's generated by the belt feeding upon his magic. Initially it resembles a set of streamlined, crystaline half plate with the leatherlike underarmor a dark gray while the armor plating takes on the appearance of cut quartz. "Set up, Amethyst. Set up, Emerald." In the next moment the quartz takes on a deep green coloration as several secondary stones along Flint's arms turn a light purple color. The next door leads into Flint's workshop, the man almost idly picking out several stones from a rack and placing them within a pouch on his way to the seemingly normal motorcycle sitting on a platform in the middle of the room.

"Are you sure further speed boosting is wise sir?"

"That's why you're setting me as high as the portal will reach and I'll head to cruising altitude before I go." Flint, now properly Geode, responds to Pyrite. The words sounding clear despite the full faced helmet yet coming through with a slight ring to it that masks his normal voice. "That way the sonic boom shouldn't do any damage on the ground... I really need to look into setting up that teleport network though." As he climbs onto the motorcycle a mental command triggers the vehicle's latent magic setting it's appearance shifting. Emerald like plating appearing over it's surface as it lifts upwards, wheels retracting underneath the coverings as the internal devices siphon, identify, and amplify the flight magic Geode has surrounded himself with.

"Alright sir... If you're certain. Opening portal." Above Los Angeles a six foot disk formed of opal appears, mirroring the appearance of a similar disk in front of Geode. To which he rides through and soars upwards above the city as the portal closes behind him. Once at a safe cruising altitude Geode takes out a small emerald, it's inner faces etched with tiny runes, and presses it to his belt triggering an augmentation to his flight before putting it away. Revving the Cycle for a moment then rocketing across the sky towards Gotham.

Taking several liberties here. I'm assuming that since we talked about it before Geode and Ivy know each other though we never settled on the exact circumstances. I also still don't 100% know how you want me to handle my cantrip casting Lentrax so for the moment I'm going to assume that keeping in line with 'low level spells' I'm augmenting my existing flight with a stacking rank 1 flight effect then using the Cycle's movement boost on top of that. That'll get me to Gotham in roughly... Two and a half hours or so, much much faster if I can use cantrip to more effect (stacking really should be a 1 point feature at least rather than 0 point...).

[Lentrax]

While she wasn't anywhere near close enough to any of the incidents to feel the tremors, Anna was near enough to a television to see when the news broke. Well, well. This is interesting. Not really my bailiwick, but then again no one told me I should start fighting crime, either. The nearest obelisk was in Gotham; she could be there in the blink of an eye. And that's exactly what happened. In one moment, she was in Metropolis, watching the news unfold on a big screen mounted on the facade of the Daily Planet building. In the next, she was in Gotham.

At least, that's what it looked like from an outsider's perspective. For Anna, it was a different experience. The world seemed to be frozen in place as she strolled casually along the roads from Metropolis to Gotham. She shifted herself out of phase for the trip, and indeed made herself invisible as well, bending light around her so that her trip was almost completely unnoticeable. Even the blue streaks that normally swirled around the border of her physics distortion field were hidden by the warped light. That let her travel more directly, but it didn't make the walk seem any shorter. She could alter her own perception of time somewhat, and she did just that, which helped - and for the rest, well, that was what audiobooks were for.

No one noticed the arrival of another onlooker at Wayne Plaza. Anna appeared up on one of the roofs overlooking the square and took in the scene.

The scene is, well, odd. The obelisk appears to have risen to its full height. At least 200 meters high, the obelisk is made of black stone, probably obsidian, possibly granite. From your current vantage, you are too far away to make anything out.


Plants are not quite as uncommunicative as they seem, releasing scents to tell about dangers, opportunities, and other important occurrences. A commonly experienced example of this is the smell of freshly mowed grass, which is a cry for help by the plants to predators such as wasps that would love to munch on the insects devouring the grass. Well this compound was smelled by Ivy this exciting morning.

From beyond her range, she could almost track the path of a mysterious entity who trampled grass from the middle of Gotham to far away in what seemed to be an instant. No one moved that fast in Ivy's experience , so who did this? Loosing her crimson hair and taking on the green pigment that acted as her greatest disguise, Poison Ivy erupted from the ground atop a large root from under a nearby park and cast out plants to use as an express skyway, following the scent of the grass that would still cling to this newcomer's elephantine feet.

Ivy doesn't really think Anna's feet are elephantine, but she is using hyperbole for how she crushed the plants. I am assuming based on Anna's light touches sending criminals flying that doing the same to grass would not fare well for the delicate plants.

Ivy is not the only hero who has come out. Already, a few of a small band of teenaged heroes who call themselves the Titans are out, helping people who got hurt by the initial rise of the obelisk. And many plants in the park are exuding strong aromas of healing and pain. A few have moved beyond pain, and simply pour all their chemicals into the sweet smell of death, meant to attract those who help decompose the dead plants to become the food for tomorrow.


"Oh dear... Master Geode I'm afraid there's an urgent matter that has come to my attention."

"Yea yea I felt... Something. Not quite a ripple but the leyline feels different." Flint steps out of the shower, quickly toweling off amidst the billowing steam. "What's the word?"

"As before nothing detected within our usual radius however there's been four simultaneous events around the globe that may need your attention. Showing it on the mirror now." An image flickers to life within said mirror however it was distorted due to the layer of water the steam had deposited on it. With a sigh Flint walks over to wipe the surface off. Four different views, four different locations, all showing the same type of object. Some sort of obelisk.

"The hell..." Flint's eye pauses on the feed that is labelled for Gotham City but then goes back to looking over all of them. "This certainly smacks of something in our wheelhouse, even if it didn't it bears looking into. Prep the Cycle and a portal. While I'm sure others will be swarming over the things lets head to the one in Gotham. Least we can meet with Ivy when we get there so we have a local in on the situation."

"As you wish sir." Flint jogs back down the hallway to his bedroom to dress, placing a hand over the quartz next to his bed which flashes green before a familiar weight settles about his waist. The belt with it's accompanying rings. So armed sets back off down the hallway towards his workshop, Triggering the belt and slipping on the amethyst and emerald rings as the magic seal forms in front of him.

"Magic Armament, Form Geode." As the seal plays across his body Flint's armor manifests in the wake of the pseudo portal that's generated by the belt feeding upon his magic. Initially it resembles a set of streamlined, crystaline half plate with the leatherlike underarmor a dark gray while the armor plating takes on the appearance of cut quartz. "Set up, Amethyst. Set up, Emerald." In the next moment the quartz takes on a deep green coloration as several secondary stones along Flint's arms turn a light purple color. The next door leads into Flint's workshop, the man almost idly picking out several stones from a rack and placing them within a pouch on his way to the seemingly normal motorcycle sitting on a platform in the middle of the room.

"Are you sure further speed boosting is wise sir?"

"That's why you're setting me as high as the portal will reach and I'll head to cruising altitude before I go." Flint, now properly Geode, responds to Pyrite. The words sounding clear despite the full faced helmet yet coming through with a slight ring to it that masks his normal voice. "That way the sonic boom shouldn't do any damage on the ground... I really need to look into setting up that teleport network though." As he climbs onto the motorcycle a mental command triggers the vehicle's latent magic setting it's appearance shifting. Emerald like plating appearing over it's surface as it lifts upwards, wheels retracting underneath the coverings as the internal devices siphon, identify, and amplify the flight magic Geode has surrounded himself with.

"Alright sir... If you're certain. Opening portal." Above Los Angeles a six foot disk formed of opal appears, mirroring the appearance of a similar disk in front of Geode. To which he rides through and soars upwards above the city as the portal closes behind him. Once at a safe cruising altitude Geode takes out a small emerald, it's inner faces etched with tiny runes, and presses it to his belt triggering an augmentation to his flight before putting it away. Revving the Cycle for a moment then rocketing across the sky towards Gotham.

Taking several liberties here. I'm assuming that since we talked about it before Geode and Ivy know each other though we never settled on the exact circumstances. I also still don't 100% know how you want me to handle my cantrip casting Lentrax so for the moment I'm going to assume that keeping in line with 'low level spells' I'm augmenting my existing flight with a stacking rank 1 flight effect then using the Cycle's movement boost on top of that. That'll get me to Gotham in roughly... Two and a half hours or so, much much faster if I can use cantrip to more effect (stacking really should be a 1 point feature at least rather than 0 point...).

Your flight is going rather well, and if you have your radio on, you hear news reports of nothing new happening, how authorities seem to be stumped, and how heroes are taking an interest in the local phenomenon.


Amid her communion with the oceanic life, Mera felt the wave coming before it reached Atlantis. Across millions of fish, the shock of the erupting obelisk vibrated through the waters of the planet, creating a ripple of momentary confusion. The most prominent one was near the English Isle, though there were similar quakes radiating out from the Coastlines of North and South America, as well as Asia. Four in total, highly localized Earthquakes. Directing her attention to a school of Trout in the Themes, she learned of the obelisk that had risen there.

Mera’s eyes darted back and forth as she did some mental calculations, gauging the rate of the vibrations progression. “General, put the fleet on standby, something is happening on the surface and it’s global. Expect Tremors from the shockwaves to reach our position in approximately 30 minutes. Damage will likely be minimal but I’ll want the dome fortified before then. I’m departing for the surface to investigate.”

Mera did not wait for a response, since she had already reached her own conclusions on the best way to handle this situation. Whether her subjects agreed with her or not, the fact remained that the undersea cities of her kingdom could no longer count on their inaccessible locations to protect them from events on the surface. What threatened the world above threatened them as well. As such, she was obligated to intervene and put an end if the matter at hand called for it. A more pragmatic part of her noted that, if the people of the surface were indeed in danger, then this might also prove an opportunity to better her standing. London was a seat of western power that had stood for centuries and remained a powerhouse on the world stage. Coming to it’s aid now could do nothing but improve her standing.

At her top speed, Mera crossed the distance from Atlantis to London in just under two hours. During that time, she remained in telepathic communication with her military and advisors, altering the seven cities in her realm to elevated status, overseeing the repairs to the Atlantean Dome, and monitoring the situation as best she could at the other Obelisks. She also reached out to the more exotic creatures in her realm, the dread bests that haunted the surface folklore and so frequently appeared off the edges of their maps. Having these beasts on hand where she needed them would be in her best interests.

The water rushing through her gills changed noticeably as she neared her destination, the clear and crisp salt waters becoming intermeshed with the rivers fresh water. Though ‘fresh’ was hardly fitting. Generation after generation of human waste and pollution had stained even the riverbead, giving the waters a foul and metallic taste. Thankfully, she only needed endure for a moment, her speed carrying her up-current until the obelisk came into sight.

With an extra strong kick, Mera propelled herself out of the water, sending a spray of droplets into the air along with her breach, leaping up and over the artificial riverbanks and onto the streets of London, perhaps one hundred meters or so (to use the local measurements) from where the pillar broke through the water’s surface. She looked around; making note that she was inside the ring of local constabulary that had been erected to keep the gawking and curious masses at a safe distance.

The queen singled out the nearest policemen, and approached him, unconcerned with the eyes of the locals that had turned on her or their camera-phones as they flashed with stroboscopic rythem. “You there, Lawmen, alert the ranking on site officer that Queen Mera of Atlantis has arrived to lend her aid. Tell them that the people of Britain have the support of Atlantis at this time, and that she wishes to see our people coordinate to ensure that the safety and well being of this city and its people are ensured against whatever potential threat has been presented."



I guess this'll be a persuasion attempt to make a positive impression?

Persuasion: [roll0]


A few minutes after a very startled PC moved off to find the Inspector, you are greeted by a woman in a business suit.

"Queen Mera? I am Agent 23. Please come with me."

Assuming you go with the woman, you are led to what looks like a series of RVs pulled together, and connected by some form of combinative structures between them. You are escorted inside where you see a military headquarters, complete with armed guard on the inside.

"Welcome to the Agency's Mobile Command Center. From here we can monitor everything going on outside, and we are in constant contact with our teams investigating the obelisk. We also, have communications lines with the US's ARGUS, and the Chinese governments agencies, who are conducting their own research. Please," the woman says, indicating a small room with a small table and two chairs.

"If you would kindly wait here. Mother will be with you shortly."

[CandyLaser]

It might have been hard to get a good view from the rooftops - but there was nothing that prevented Anna from getting closer, as far as she could tell. After a few moments in ordinary time, Anna once again started warping the fabric of time around her, slowing it until the world seemed to come to a halt. She put herself out of phase with the rest of the world, as well, letting her pass through things as if she were a ghost, and for added security twisted the light until it passed her by as well. Now invisible and intangible, she descended, leaping from the building. Gravity obeyed her whims as well, and she floated down gently, landing just outside the police cordon. After checking to make sure there was nothing obviously wrong happening inside the cordon, she stepped through, circling the obelisk and examining it from all sides.

No plants were harmed in the making of this post (because Anna is incorporeal).

[RickAllison]

Ivy sidles up to the obelisk, giving a pat on the shoulder to any officer not immediately bent to her will to finish off their defenses. She gives some token efforts to help the people in trouble, supporting buildings with giant tree trunks, sending out roots to break up rubble, calming the troubled, and so forth, but ultimately she wants to know what's with the giant structure and who is that mysterious scent.

Unless Anna also has a way to disguise her scent, I imagine that she smells nothing like Gotham, and would stick out to someone with the extreme olfactory senses of Ivy.

Perception (smell): [roll0], if Anna can't diffuse her scent like she can light.

[userpay]

Geode listens carefully as he starts his journey but after awhile queues up Pyrite on the connection. "Pyrite, see if you can raise one of the onsite response teams. We need to be sure whether the news is reporting everything."

"Yes sir. Sorting through known government contacts." Geode's grip tightens on the handlebars. Something had to give... If whatever was causing this were benevolent then there would have been some warning right?

(If Pyrite manages to get through)
"This is Knight Geode, I am currently enroute to the Gotham disturbance due to proximity. Wishing advisement to maintain current destination or redirect to another situation. Over."

While it might be more appropriate to have taken an actual benefit for this I assume if Geode's been trying to work with keeping Super's public image positive he might have at least some connections within the Los Angeles government, or almost certainly the news groups, who might beable to put him in contact with people at the scene in one of the locations. Mostly just keeping within image of assisting/working with the people even if he isn't totally beholden to how they do things.

[Lentrax]

It might have been hard to get a good view from the rooftops - but there was nothing that prevented Anna from getting closer, as far as she could tell. After a few moments in ordinary time, Anna once again started warping the fabric of time around her, slowing it until the world seemed to come to a halt. She put herself out of phase with the rest of the world, as well, letting her pass through things as if she were a ghost, and for added security twisted the light until it passed her by as well. Now invisible and intangible, she descended, leaping from the building. Gravity obeyed her whims as well, and she floated down gently, landing just outside the police cordon. After checking to make sure there was nothing obviously wrong happening inside the cordon, she stepped through, circling the obelisk and examining it from all sides.

No plants were harmed in the making of this post (because Anna is incorporeal).

As you reach the obelisk, you begin to see writing carved in it. Some of it seems to be a cuneiform, some of it in what looks like ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, and some in a language you cannot identify.

How close does Anna get to the obelisk?


Ivy sidles up to the obelisk, giving a pat on the shoulder to any officer not immediately bent to her will to finish off their defenses. She gives some token efforts to help the people in trouble, supporting buildings with giant tree trunks, sending out roots to break up rubble, calming the troubled, and so forth, but ultimately she wants to know what's with the giant structure and who is that mysterious scent.

Unless Anna also has a way to disguise her scent, I imagine that she smells nothing like Gotham, and would stick out to someone with the extreme olfactory senses of Ivy.

Perception (smell): [roll0], if Anna can't diffuse her scent like she can light.

AS Ivy gets closer to the obelisk, she begins to get even more scents. She recognizes them as plants, but their genomes are entirely foreign to her.


Geode listens carefully as he starts his journey but after awhile queues up Pyrite on the connection. "Pyrite, see if you can raise one of the onsite response teams. We need to be sure whether the news is reporting everything."

"Yes sir. Sorting through known government contacts." Geode's grip tightens on the handlebars. Something had to give... If whatever was causing this were benevolent then there would have been some warning right?

(If Pyrite manages to get through)
"This is Knight Geode, I am currently enroute to the Gotham disturbance due to proximity. Wishing advisement to maintain current destination or redirect to another situation. Over."

While it might be more appropriate to have taken an actual benefit for this I assume if Geode's been trying to work with keeping Super's public image positive he might have at least some connections within the Los Angeles government, or almost certainly the news groups, who might beable to put him in contact with people at the scene in one of the locations. Mostly just keeping within image of assisting/working with the people even if he isn't totally beholden to how they do things.

"Geode. We have you on radar, and are clearing your flight path. Be advised that channel is a military frequency, and we will be enquiring as to how you accessed it."

[RickAllison]

Ivy focuses on the unfamiliar scents, searching for the source of them within the obelisk. Could there be seeds or other opportunities to grow new plants? She kisses the obelisk, using her developed olfactory senses to find what the obelisk itself is chemically composed of.

[userpay]

Behind the visor Geode's face splits into a wide grin of born of amusement. "Unfortunately the only answer I have to that is the same as I give everyone. Magic~" Then a small sigh as he settles back into the here and now. "Still would it pain the military so much to have a frequency for working with heroes in situations like this? For local jurisdictions it usually isn't to much a issue but for bigger events like this... Well just an idea to pass onto your upper brass."

[NineOfSpades]

Mera followed Agent 23, keeping a polite distance behind the operative, taking note of the coordinated response from the authorities. It was admirable, the speed that they'd managed to take action, and Mera doubted that her own forces would have been able to assemble a command center any quicker. When she was shown to the meeting room, Mera nodded and took a seat to await this 'Mother' figure.

[CandyLaser]

Anna, cloaked behind her light-distorting bubble and partially shunted out of normal reality, drew close to the obelisk. She was close enough to touch it, although she didn't actually do so as she took inventory of the glyphs on the structure and committed them to memory. Then she withdrew by about ten feet and let time resume its normal pace. Of course, her attention was drawn to the woman who waltzed passed the cordon as if the police outside were all close personal friends. She let the light touch her, fading back into view, and spoke. "I don't imagine this thing is your work, is it?" she asked, gesturing toward the obelisk.

[RickAllison]

So you're the odd scent... Well, I suppose the unknown plants I'm feeling from this statue are a little stranger. Ivy. Poison Ivy. Ivy offers her hand to the stranger.

[CandyLaser]

Anna returned the handshake. "Anna Century. Sorry for intruding, if this is your scene - I was bored. Hope you don't mind if I help."

[BananaPhone]

http://i1248.photobucket.com/albums/hh483/tempestII/supergirl__sale_on_e_bay_now_____by_carlosbragaart 80-d9c74he_1.jpg?t=1497396673 Zar-vex, Superwoman

Sailing away through the air with the aftermath of a defeated cartel thug-platoon strewn about behind her, Zar-vex received a tingle in her ear as her ships AI spoke through her commlink.

"Captain; I am detecting several energy spikes in several human cities."

Pausing in midflight - having already traveled thousands of miles - knowing her computer wouldn't bring this up unless it was out of the ordinary, Zar-vex rose a single slender eyebrow, "Oh?"

"Reports are coming in of obselisk-like structures raising from the earth in several major earth cities: London, Beijing, Gotham and Rio de Janeiro. So far no activity other than this has been recorded."

Pursing her lips, Zar-vex started to ask a question and then paused...reconsidering her words, she asked again: "Is this...normal of human cities?"

"Human communication traffic has fluctuated and picked up enormously around these area's: it's safe to assume that no, this is not normal."

Nodding, "Right, where's the closest one?"

"In London, England."

"Very well, I will go to this En-gerand and investigate!"

The air about the kryptonian once more compressed upon itself as she suddenly rocketed off at Mach 80 - the sea below her blurring into a seamless whole that was soon replaced by the shores of England. Like a human missile, Zar-vex traveled over the country-side and was soon hovering over the centre of London: her blood-red cape billowing behind her in the breeze as she peered down upon the scene, her fantastic senses already at work...

ooc:
Perception: [roll0]

+ Extended 6 Vision, Microscopic Vision 1.

[RickAllison]

Have at it, I am mainly here to ensure no important plants were injured. There appear to be traces of plants I have never encountered before. Ivy takes care to plant spores of cryomyces minteri on this stranger's hand and releases the microscopic items around the pair. Ivy would like to keep tabs on someone who can foil so many of her defenses.

[CandyLaser]

"Sort of a narrow focus, isn't it?" Unsurprisingly, Anna didn't notice the microscopic spores on her gloved hand. "I'm more interested in this giant obelisk that came out of nowhere, personally." She seemed to teleport as she slowed time for an instant, moving back toward the obelisk to point at the symbols that decorated its sides. "Look at these symbols - they look almost Egyptian, and the Egyptians loved their obelisks, but I'm pretty sure they didn't build any underground in Gotham City. Hmm... actually, if you can connect with plants in some way, maybe you can see if there's any more of them lurking underground. If they're shallow enough, tree roots might be touching them."

[Lentrax]

Ivy focuses on the unfamiliar scents, searching for the source of them within the obelisk. Could there be seeds or other opportunities to grow new plants? She kisses the obelisk, using her developed olfactory senses to find what the obelisk itself is chemically composed of.

Ivy doesn't discern anything different with the obelisk, though there does seem to be something... off, with the taste. She feels it deep within her cells, a foreign substance. It seems to be attacking her very biology.

Please make a Resistance check.


Behind the visor Geode's face splits into a wide grin of born of amusement. "Unfortunately the only answer I have to that is the same as I give everyone. Magic~" Then a small sigh as he settles back into the here and now. "Still would it pain the military so much to have a frequency for working with heroes in situations like this? For local jurisdictions it usually isn't to much a issue but for bigger events like this... Well just an idea to pass onto your upper brass."

"UH-huh. Another clever one. Have you ever thought about what it would take for you to be able to use a frequency we could establish for you freaks? And would you tell us who you were so we grant you the clearance for such equipment? Just an idea to pass on to your brain."


Mera followed Agent 23, keeping a polite distance behind the operative, taking note of the coordinated response from the authorities. It was admirable, the speed that they'd managed to take action, and Mera doubted that her own forces would have been able to assemble a command center any quicker. When she was shown to the meeting room, Mera nodded and took a seat to await this 'Mother' figure.

It doesn't take long, but after a minute of waiting, the door opens and a middle-aged man who leans on a cane walks in. He strides over to Mera and offers the sketch of a bow before taking the other chair.

"Forgive me, my dear, for being late. Dreadful business, this," he says, as he reaches into the interior pocket of his jacket and pulls out a silver case. Opening it, he pulls out a cigarette and lights it. "Now, onto business. So far as we know, these obelisks, whatever they are, are not related to the attackers we have been putting down for some time now. They have some kind of writings on them, but we do not know what the languages are, and so far, we have lost three good men to the thing when they touched it to take samples. Nasty business that, dissolved them into goo."

He puffs on the cigarette. "Now, I know you have had your own troubles with the invasion, so I have to ask, have you seen anything like these before?"

http://www.aveleyman.com/Gallery/ActorsB/2099-23803.jpg


http://i1248.photobucket.com/albums/hh483/tempestII/supergirl__sale_on_e_bay_now_____by_carlosbragaart 80-d9c74he_1.jpg?t=1497396673 Zar-vex, Superwoman

Sailing away through the air with the aftermath of a defeated cartel thug-platoon strewn about behind her, Zar-vex received a tingle in her ear as her ships AI spoke through her commlink.

"Captain; I am detecting several energy spikes in several human cities."

Pausing in midflight - having already traveled thousands of miles - knowing her computer wouldn't bring this up unless it was out of the ordinary, Zar-vex rose a single slender eyebrow, "Oh?"

"Reports are coming in of obselisk-like structures raising from the earth in several major earth cities: London, Beijing, Gotham and Rio de Janeiro. So far no activity other than this has been recorded."

Pursing her lips, Zar-vex started to ask a question and then paused...reconsidering her words, she asked again: "Is this...normal of human cities?"

"Human communication traffic has fluctuated and picked up enormously around these area's: it's safe to assume that no, this is not normal."

Nodding, "Right, where's the closest one?"

"In London, England."

"Very well, I will go to this En-gerand and investigate!"

The air about the kryptonian once more compressed upon itself as she suddenly rocketed off at Mach 80 - the sea below her blurring into a seamless whole that was soon replaced by the shores of England. Like a human missile, Zar-vex traveled over the country-side and was soon hovering over the centre of London: her blood-red cape billowing behind her in the breeze as she peered down upon the scene, her fantastic senses already at work...

ooc:
Perception: [roll0]

+ Extended 6 Vision, Microscopic Vision 1.



As Zar-vex arrives on the scene, she hears quite a few people speaking in troubled voices that Superwoman has arrived. If not for your super vision, you wouldn't have noticed weapons almost casually being turned your way, like they want them to point at you, but not in a hostile gesture. Like it was possible for weapons to be aimed without making it appear hostile.

Ignoring the humans and their antics on the ground for the moment, you turn to the obelisk. As you scan the object, you see that the material is shielding its innards from your various types of vision. Turning back to normal sight, you see that the obelisk is covered in strange writings. But, your training on Krypton before its demise had some instruction on various alien languages. Maybe you could recall something that could help.

You can make a special Expertise check to see if your military training can help you decipher one of the languages on the obelisk.

[NineOfSpades]

Mera did not stand as ‘Mother’ entered, though she gave a gesture of acknowledgement as the aging gentleman gave a perfunctory show of respect to her station. She let him give his report without interruption, her face a placid and stone cut mask as she filed away the relevant information. “I presume you have already documented the inscriptions then” she didn’t ask for a file, but it was fairly clear she wanted to see a record of what they’d gathered. She briefly gave pause, no more than a half second, to consider if she wanted to answer the question about her people’s encounters with the invaders. But it was a fairly easy conclusion to reach, given that she could entirely answer Mother’s question without divulging any information about her own people. “All structures to date have been determined to be military hubs assembled on-planet. Defensive measures around these bases of operation, as well as recovered technology, have proven difficult to analyze but are safe to handle. Furthermore, it has been” She glanced at a clock to confirm the local time “nearly 2 hours since the object emerged, and yet there hasn’t been any other activity. If this is an attack, it’s entirely lost the element of surprise, and that’s inconsistent with the tactical behavior that has been exhibited by the invaders.” Mera was perhaps not as relaxed as Mother, but her tone was level and direct, conveying neither difference nor superiority, simply reciting the facts that she had available in an amicable fashion. “The situation here was brought to my attention due to the seismic activity that accompanied the objects emergence. At a glance, the surrounding city seems to be relatively undamaged, though if if my first impression is mistaken, additional support and resources can be made available to your nation” It was a diplomatic offer, designed to provide assistance if needed without implying that the people of Britian needed such aid or were incapable of handling the matter internally.



Totally just making up facts about the invaders and hoping they are accurate! Let me know if I'm incorrect in these assertions

[RickAllison]

Keep an eye out for me, not every denizen of Gotham is quite as enamored with me as the local police force, and it might take a while to check underneath the entire world. I've tried doing this before and, if we do not search the ocean floor, it will take about three hours. In that time, I should be able to search anywhere within,
oh, 200 miles of a plant reliably. Focusing on the scents coming from the obelisk and creating a ball of strong, protective plants around her, Ivy casts out her senses across the world, touching plants over its land surface and underground through the mystical Green to see the Earth as few do, within a network of plants.

Ivy is using Remote Senses (Touch of the Green) with Senses (Green Network) to taste the planet all over. She has more than enough ranks in Remote Senses to stretch over the globe (so long as there are mosses or other plants to draw on; I doubt she is seeing into an alien spaceship, for example. Well, I suppose if they have gut flora then she could get some limited understanding of the area, or into the sewage system), and she has Extended Olfactory 5, along with Acute, Accurate, and Analytical, Distance Sense, and Penetrates Concealment.

Since I can only switch the Remote Senses once per turn as a free action, and re-taking a Perception check is a move action while the first is a normal action, do you want me to take the Perception as a routine check,
or rolling twice for every relevant check? Ivy's routine Perception is 32.

Ivy is much better at smelling/tasting things than seeing or hearing them.

[Arcran]

Agent Athena, report to operations. Athena to operations, suddenly rings out across the intercoms, causing the psionic supersoldier to sigh, before tossing the keys to the plane to Poseidon.

Sorry boys, looks like some of us have to work tonight. Another time, Athena says, mentally reaching out to her companions' minds. Two lefts and right will dodge patrols, Athena starts to say, before a voice cuts in over the intercom as well, this time a bit more frantic.

All Olympians to Operations, now! the voice cuts in. This is a Titan Level event. I repeat, Titan Level!

Any amusement that Athena, Zeus or Poseidon had on their face was wiped away as the three heard the message come in. Titan Level meant an attack on civilians, as well as advanced publicity, neither of which were good things. When the three reached operations, they found Hephaestus frantically rolling around the room as he juggled a dozen different monitors, half of which were on news sources, the other half on early scans of some sort of tower. Apollo and Artemis were already present, the two already gearing up for some sort of mission.

Good, everybody's here, the resident tech expert says, rapidly changing between monitors again. We have four different foreign entities in major cities. We don't have much information at the moment, but we need to get information on these as soon as possible. Observe and report, but don't interfere if at all possible. Zeus, handle domestic, there's one in Gotham City. Poseidon, take Rio. Apollo, Artemis, I need the two of you to handle Beijing. Which leaves us Athena, Hephaestus says, pulling up another image, this time a woman in a red cape that Athena instantly recognized.

The Superwoman is at the London site. We don't know if she's affiliated, but in any case this is one of our best chances to get close to her. Gear up in the AEGIS, observe and report on the obelisk, and try to get as much intel out of Superwoman as possible, Hephaestus says, drawing a nod from Athena. I'll keep you all informed as best as possible, but initial scans are returning nothing, Hephaestus adds, frowning slightly. It wasn't often that his sensors didn't work. Alright everybody, we need boots on the ground in ten. Let's go.

Eight minutes later, Aegis was getting into a jet, and thirty seconds later that jet was in the air, streaking off towards London. In record time Aegis was over the city, and after a quick eject the purple-suited hero plummets to the ground, psionic damping fields kicking in just before Aegis hits the ground to stop her momentum, brining her in for a safe landing only about a hundred yards from the massive obelisk. The supersoldier immediately begins attempting to survey the obelisk, while also branching her mind out to find noteworthy mental signatures nearby.

[userpay]

"Oh come now, they haven't made you watch footage of the known metas? At least when I say magic you should know I'm not kidding." There's a note of wounded pride though the unseen look on Geode's face shows it to be show. Mostly. "While you have a point about setting a frequency that still requires contacts and equipment that are beyond my reach at the moment unless you've got a unused satellite or two sitting in your back pocket I don't know about." His voice has definitely taken on a mildly teasing tone at the last few words, in part trying to lighten the entire situation, though it fades to normal when he starts into the logistics. "Magic can be far reaching but it still needs relays just like standard communications whether to extend it or convert it, much less permission to place such relays around the world, thus requiring backing of some kind from a global entity to get anything done. Much easier at this point to just request access. Besides, being home-field territory I'd prefer to work with the USA government. Anyway coming up on Gotham shortly, no change in situation I take it?"

[Lentrax]

Mera did not stand as ‘Mother’ entered, though she gave a gesture of acknowledgement as the aging gentleman gave a perfunctory show of respect to her station. She let him give his report without interruption, her face a placid and stone cut mask as she filed away the relevant information. “I presume you have already documented the inscriptions then” she didn’t ask for a file, but it was fairly clear she wanted to see a record of what they’d gathered. She briefly gave pause, no more than a half second, to consider if she wanted to answer the question about her people’s encounters with the invaders. But it was a fairly easy conclusion to reach, given that she could entirely answer Mother’s question without divulging any information about her own people. “All structures to date have been determined to be military hubs assembled on-planet. Defensive measures around these bases of operation, as well as recovered technology, have proven difficult to analyze but are safe to handle. Furthermore, it has been” She glanced at a clock to confirm the local time “nearly 2 hours since the object emerged, and yet there hasn’t been any other activity. If this is an attack, it’s entirely lost the element of surprise, and that’s inconsistent with the tactical behavior that has been exhibited by the invaders.” Mera was perhaps not as relaxed as Mother, but her tone was level and direct, conveying neither difference nor superiority, simply reciting the facts that she had available in an amicable fashion. “The situation here was brought to my attention due to the seismic activity that accompanied the objects emergence. At a glance, the surrounding city seems to be relatively undamaged, though if if my first impression is mistaken, additional support and resources can be made available to your nation” It was a diplomatic offer, designed to provide assistance if needed without implying that the people of Britian needed such aid or were incapable of handling the matter internally.



Totally just making up facts about the invaders and hoping they are accurate! Let me know if I'm incorrect in these assertions


"I see. I do hope that we can come to some arrangement to share our intelligence. And yes, while we are fortunate that the damage seems to be confined to just the nearby area, we have no idea what this large scale kind of event could imply for all of us. But alas, as it stands now, I have no idea how you could be of more aid to us here. You are of course, welcome to enjoy what comforts we have available to us."


Keep an eye out for me, not every denizen of Gotham is quite as enamored with me as the local police force, and it might take a while to check underneath the entire world. I've tried doing this before and, if we do not search the ocean floor, it will take about three hours. In that time, I should be able to search anywhere within,
oh, 200 miles of a plant reliably. Focusing on the scents coming from the obelisk and creating a ball of strong, protective plants around her, Ivy casts out her senses across the world, touching plants over its land surface and underground through the mystical Green to see the Earth as few do, within a network of plants.

Ivy is using Remote Senses (Touch of the Green) with Senses (Green Network) to taste the planet all over. She has more than enough ranks in Remote Senses to stretch over the globe (so long as there are mosses or other plants to draw on; I doubt she is seeing into an alien spaceship, for example. Well, I suppose if they have gut flora then she could get some limited understanding of the area, or into the sewage system), and she has Extended Olfactory 5, along with Acute, Accurate, and Analytical, Distance Sense, and Penetrates Concealment.

Since I can only switch the Remote Senses once per turn as a free action, and re-taking a Perception check is a move action while the first is a normal action, do you want me to take the Perception as a routine check,
or rolling twice for every relevant check? Ivy's routine Perception is 32.

Ivy is much better at smelling/tasting things than seeing or hearing them.

Ivy, after she begins extending out her senses, first feels sick. Physically ill after touching those parts of the Earth that mankind is killing in the name of 'progress,' Ivy soon finds herself feeling better. But aside from the same residue of odd alien pheromones, Ivy cannot find anything new. Though the plants are able to transmit to her their collective recollections of what happened. The obelisks were not always here. Instead, they simply appeared, instantly transposing with what was there, cutting roots and plants and anything else that may have been beneath them when they appeared.


Agent Athena, report to operations. Athena to operations, suddenly rings out across the intercoms, causing the psionic supersoldier to sigh, before tossing the keys to the plane to Poseidon.

Sorry boys, looks like some of us have to work tonight. Another time, Athena says, mentally reaching out to her companions' minds. Two lefts and right will dodge patrols, Athena starts to say, before a voice cuts in over the intercom as well, this time a bit more frantic.

All Olympians to Operations, now! the voice cuts in. This is a Titan Level event. I repeat, Titan Level!

Any amusement that Athena, Zeus or Poseidon had on their face was wiped away as the three heard the message come in. Titan Level meant an attack on civilians, as well as advanced publicity, neither of which were good things. When the three reached operations, they found Hephaestus frantically rolling around the room as he juggled a dozen different monitors, half of which were on news sources, the other half on early scans of some sort of tower. Apollo and Artemis were already present, the two already gearing up for some sort of mission.

Good, everybody's here, the resident tech expert says, rapidly changing between monitors again. We have four different foreign entities in major cities. We don't have much information at the moment, but we need to get information on these as soon as possible. Observe and report, but don't interfere if at all possible. Zeus, handle domestic, there's one in Gotham City. Poseidon, take Rio. Apollo, Artemis, I need the two of you to handle Beijing. Which leaves us Athena, Hephaestus says, pulling up another image, this time a woman in a red cape that Athena instantly recognized.

The Superwoman is at the London site. We don't know if she's affiliated, but in any case this is one of our best chances to get close to her. Gear up in the AEGIS, observe and report on the obelisk, and try to get as much intel out of Superwoman as possible, Hephaestus says, drawing a nod from Athena. I'll keep you all informed as best as possible, but initial scans are returning nothing, Hephaestus adds, frowning slightly. It wasn't often that his sensors didn't work. Alright everybody, we need boots on the ground in ten. Let's go.

Eight minutes later, Aegis was getting into a jet, and thirty seconds later that jet was in the air, streaking off towards London. In record time Aegis was over the city, and after a quick eject the purple-suited hero plummets to the ground, psionic damping fields kicking in just before Aegis hits the ground to stop her momentum, brining her in for a safe landing only about a hundred yards from the massive obelisk. The supersoldier immediately begins attempting to survey the obelisk, while also branching her mind out to find noteworthy mental signatures nearby.

There are two minds that you find of note. One of them on the ground with you. One of them above you, which would make that Superwoman.

But your entrance does not go unnoticed. Almost immediately, soldier all around you create a ring of weapons.

"Hold and identify!"


"Oh come now, they haven't made you watch footage of the known metas? At least when I say magic you should know I'm not kidding." There's a note of wounded pride though the unseen look on Geode's face shows it to be show. Mostly. "While you have a point about setting a frequency that still requires contacts and equipment that are beyond my reach at the moment unless you've got a unused satellite or two sitting in your back pocket I don't know about." His voice has definitely taken on a mildly teasing tone at the last few words, in part trying to lighten the entire situation, though it fades to normal when he starts into the logistics. "Magic can be far reaching but it still needs relays just like standard communications whether to extend it or convert it, much less permission to place such relays around the world, thus requiring backing of some kind from a global entity to get anything done. Much easier at this point to just request access. Besides, being home-field territory I'd prefer to work with the USA government. Anyway coming up on Gotham shortly, no change in situation I take it?"

"What we know is classified. And you didn't even request access. Just did it, which negates your entire point. And credibility."

[Arcran]

Aegis, Abigail says simply, her suits' voice modulator making it impossible to tell if the voice was male or female. Aegis slowly raises her hands over her head, making it clear that she's not hostile. Not that it would matter; she hardly needed her hands to deal with these soldiers. I'm here to help, the woman continues curtly, the career soldier in her not entirely falling away as she attempts to communicate with the soldiers. I have some expertise with these kind of matters, and would like to make sure that this construct is not armed. May I approach it?

Of course, Abigail was curious about the other mind on the ground, and begins to slide her way into its subconscious. As she does so, Abigail does her best to pick out the leader of the soldiers, just in case.

Aegis will be using her Mind Reading power on the other, non-Superwoman mind of note. Subtle 2, so completely unnoticeable.

My check: [roll0]

Aegis is currently Vulnerable.

Did any of my rolls tell me anything about the obelisk / can I read it?

Also, Expertise: Military to identify these guys rank as well as who's in charge: [roll1]

[userpay]

"What we know is classified. And you didn't even request access. Just did it, which negates your entire point. And credibility."

Geode sighs. "That would be the fault of my assistant though I'm still partially responsible for not making my request for him to establish communications clearer in method. Though he does like to test his boundaries occasionally... Regardless you've my apologies for that. I'll be firmer with him in the future." Now that obelisk was starting to come into view Geode angled his cycle downward to begin his decent. "Touching down momentarily."

With a loud whine and a small cloud of kicked up dust Geode lands half a block out from the obelisk. Dismounting and, for the moment, desummoning the cycle to prevent theft. On his approach Geode extends his senses trying to feel out the nature of the structure and any nearby magical signatures.

Using Detect Magic, ranged sense extended x10.

[NineOfSpades]

With the conversation drawing to a natural stopping point, Mera stood and prepared to take her leave. “Thank you for your time, Mother, I will keep you informed as my investigation progresses.” She did not extend a handshake, but gave a respectful nod of her head for a moment, and then departed from the mobile command center.

Outside, events had progressed somewhat. The nearby law enforcement had engaged with a heavily armored individual dressed in a uniform that was unfamiliar to the Atlantean. This newcomer had their arms raised in a universal gesture of submission. Mera approached, staying outside the circle of London’s finest, but on hand for the moment in case this individual proved themselves to be an aggressor.

Her attention diverted to the scene unfolding on the ground, Mera did not spare a glance skyward and was for the moment unaware of the kryptonian overhead.

[Lentrax]

Aegis, Abigail says simply, her suits' voice modulator making it impossible to tell if the voice was male or female. Aegis slowly raises her hands over her head, making it clear that she's not hostile. Not that it would matter; she hardly needed her hands to deal with these soldiers. I'm here to help, the woman continues curtly, the career soldier in her not entirely falling away as she attempts to communicate with the soldiers. I have some expertise with these kind of matters, and would like to make sure that this construct is not armed. May I approach it?

Of course, Abigail was curious about the other mind on the ground, and begins to slide her way into its subconscious. As she does so, Abigail does her best to pick out the leader of the soldiers, just in case.

Aegis will be using her Mind Reading power on the other, non-Superwoman mind of note. Subtle 2, so completely unnoticeable.

My check: [roll0]

Aegis is currently Vulnerable.

Did any of my rolls tell me anything about the obelisk / can I read it?

Also, Expertise: Military to identify these guys rank as well as who's in charge: [roll1]

"Great," one of the soldiers says. "Another one of the bloody things are here. Can't help sticking their noses into everyone else's business."

You have a hard time identifying the mind of who is in charge of the soldiers. They are all so similar, so easy to slide through. A lot them are thinking of their mothers, and what mother says. One is thinking of their father, and seems to care for their children a lot more than you would think is normal.

I leave it up to Superwoman and Mera about defending their brains from being slipped into.

And I am going to wait on Superwoman before I determine what you are able to discern about the obelisk through alien knowledge.

[RickAllison]

Uncoiling her plant cocoon well before she expected, she speaks. It appears as if these structures appeared from nothing. There is no earthen cavity they arose from, or traces in the soil. They weren't, and then they were. London is particularly exciting. I can smell the salt and fish of the sea, that strange girl in orbit, and quite a few weapons being brandished at people I do not recognize. Sniff sniff. We have a surprise of our own incoming... I do believe that is my dear friend!

Ivy smiles wide; the two might not always have got along (and Geode may contest the appellation of "friend"), but Geode was always a fun one to play with, and one of the few who understood why she cared so deeply about her plants. Ivy waves happily in the direction where she smelled the mystical hero.

Would Geode's Detect Magic pick up on the semi-magical Ivy waving?

[BananaPhone]

http://i1248.photobucket.com/albums/hh483/tempestII/supergirl__sale_on_e_bay_now_____by_carlosbragaart 80-d9c74he_1.jpg?t=1497396673 Zar-vex, Superwoman


Zar's instincts when receiving the barrel-end of various weapons was to retreat behind cover. But here, on this planet, under the Yellow Sun, that would not be necessary.

Remaining afloat, her yellowed hair framing her angular features, Superwoman remained a few dozen meters up and stared at the Obelisk - doing her best to seem passive of the panic that her presence might cause. Just like spooked animals, it was best if she remained still and as unthreatening as she could.

Reaching up to her ear, Zar activated her commlink with her ship.

"Star One, are you reading this?" she asked, her "smart phone" tarnsmitting images back to her orbiting vessel and its library - avast depository of knowledge the Kryptonians had built over countless generations, "any idea what I'm looking at?"


ooc:
Expertise (Military): [roll0]

[CandyLaser]

"I hadn't planned for you to scan the whole world. That's... well, that's pretty impressive." She went back to inspecting the obelisk, until a third party arrived. At that time, she blinked over toward him, warping time to give her the chance to check him out thoroughly before dropping back into normal speed. "Hello, there. Come to investigate the weird spike, too?"

[userpay]

Given Ivy's semi-mystical ties she'd show up as a blip at the very least, not sure if stuff would show in clear definition with this sense.

Geode waves back at Ivy as he approaches, eyes glancing back and forth as he thought he saw a disturbance in the mana flow yet... Everything was normal? A figment? With a mental shrug Geode continues to search for further magical signatures as he comes to a stop near the two women. "Greetings! Hello Ivy, hello... Hmm not sure I've seen you on the news yet. Names Geode, technically Knight Geode but I'm not big on formalities. Anyway yes I couldn't help but come when news broke out, seemed to sudden for anything but magical origin putting it right in my wheelhouse. Which reminds me I should look up seismic data later... Any activity so far besides emerging?"

[RickAllison]

It has a little bit of biological disturbance, actually. Stung quite a bit when I tried to sense it more closely. Seems to be causing quite a ruckus elsewhere, bringing out an Atlantean, the alien girl, and some black ops shrub in heavy armor. Carries the scent of plants not found on this world. If I could get some other alien samples to analyze, I could probably cross-reference similar compounds to find each aspect. Doesn't smell anything like our orbiting ET, though. Shame, she really does smell lovely...

[userpay]

Geode taps a finger against the side of his faceplate, pacing up and down the length of the obelisk. "Hmm... Perhaps some sort of teleportation then if it's brought foreign matter along with it with no time to scrap it off from traveling through the ground. A container perhaps? I'm reluctant to do anything with it since it's appeared in such a dense urban area if it has the potential for carrying something within." He stares at it for a moment. "Can't be from that side. They would have warned me by now... Tch." Geode turns towards the other two. "Any thoughts? I'd love to evacuate the city but I don't think we've got the pull to do something like that. I didn't exactly get a warm reception over comms when I made contact with military on my way here." He says gesturing in exasperation to where said teams are no doubt watching from.

[RickAllison]

Well, there is one option... How able are you two at filtering out crippling noxious fumes? You would be amazed at the truly powerful scents available to the plant life. Surely you have heard of the corpse flower? Largest blossom in the world, rarely blooms, smells like a rotting corpse?

[Lentrax]

http://i1248.photobucket.com/albums/hh483/tempestII/supergirl__sale_on_e_bay_now_____by_carlosbragaart 80-d9c74he_1.jpg?t=1497396673 Zar-vex, Superwoman


Zar's instincts when receiving the barrel-end of various weapons was to retreat behind cover. But here, on this planet, under the Yellow Sun, that would not be necessary.

Remaining afloat, her yellowed hair framing her angular features, Superwoman remained a few dozen meters up and stared at the Obelisk - doing her best to seem passive of the panic that her presence might cause. Just like spooked animals, it was best if she remained still and as unthreatening as she could.

Reaching up to her ear, Zar activated her commlink with her ship.

"Star One, are you reading this?" she asked, her "smart phone" tarnsmitting images back to her orbiting vessel and its library - avast depository of knowledge the Kryptonians had built over countless generations, "any idea what I'm looking at?"


ooc:
Expertise (Military): [roll0]



You are fairly certain you encountered the script before, during the war with Brainiac. But you have no idea what it means. Contacting your ship, the AI responds in a calm voice.

"Captain, if you could get images of the object, we could analyze them in our computer."

[Arcran]

Thank you, Aegis says respectfully to the soldiers with a nod, putting her hands down as she approaches the pillar, quickly turning on a few of her more advanced scanning systems. Aegis stares at the pillar for a moment, trying to see if there was anything she could pick up from the inside of the pillar, while also trying to find entry into the other advanced human's mind.

Aegis' vision Penetrates Concealment, so hopefully we can see into the pillar!

And more Mind Reading on Aquawoman: [roll0]

[BananaPhone]

http://i1248.photobucket.com/albums/hh483/tempestII/supergirl__sale_on_e_bay_now_____by_carlosbragaart 80-d9c74he_1.jpg?t=1497396673 Zar-vex, Superwoman

Pursing her lips, hovering above, Superwoman retrieved a small, thin, deep pyramid-looking, gun-metal grey device upon the flat end of which was exhibited her House symbol - the House of Vex.

To a human it would just look like the tooth of some dark beast made from granite, but to the Kryptonian, it was so much more. Holding the device upon her palm, still levitating several dozen meters above the obelisk, she allowed the tiny device to wriggle to life as it too came to hover above he palm. It clicked once, twice and then a third time, before gently feather-falling down into Zar's hand where she grasped it and placed it back upon her person.

"Done, taken, they're transmitted to you now," Zar-vex said, her eyes narrowed as she stared at the Obelisk, trying in vain to remember where she had seen that writing before...

ooc:
Zar-vex has a "cellphone" as a piece of equipment. Obviously she's not carrying the latest iPhone, but she'll have a kryptonian equivalent in the shape of those little USB sticks they used in Man of Steel. She took a heap of images with that and beamed it back to Star One.

If she gets another roll for straining her memory: [roll0]

[CandyLaser]

Well, there is one option... How able are you two at filtering out crippling noxious fumes? You would be amazed at the truly powerful scents available to the plant life. Surely you have heard of the corpse flower? Largest blossom in the world, rarely blooms, smells like a rotting corpse?

"That's, uh, not really my specialty. I'd rather be far away before you do something like that. I'm not really clear what effect you think it would have, also."

[RickAllison]

"That's, uh, not really my specialty. I'd rather be far away before you do something like that. I'm not really clear what effect you think it would have, also."

I imagine that a heavy concentration of undesirable odors would cause the populace to flee the area, much like how tear gas is deployed. I can then apply more stringent barriers, such as poison oak or an arboreal wall.

[userpay]

"Ah... I do well enough but I'm not certain we want to force people away when the danger to them isn't clear. Might give the wrong impression. Besides doesn't that smell have a change to cling for awhile?" Geode shakes his head as he walks over to where the military has what passes as their command center. "I assume that orders for evacuation have been issued? What's the status of that if I may enquire."

[Arcran]

Beneath the AEGIS suits' helm Abigail grins widely. Unfiltered access to the mind of the Queen of Atlantis? That was intel that was worth more than her suit's weight in gold. Still, at least for now, Aegis pulls out of the woman's mind, instead intending to focus entirely on her work with the obelisk. She could pluck the details of Atlantis' defenses out of Mera's mind at a later date.

For now, Aegis approaches the obelisk, before mentally activating the phasing module on her suit, and slowly reaching out towards the obelisk, not quite touching it as she waits to see if there's any kind of feedback.

[RickAllison]

In a quieter, more annoyed voice, Ivy says, I could bring in some sweet-smelling flowers afterwards... She doesn't object to Geode seeking an alternate solution, spending some time healing some plants around the scene.

[Lentrax]

"Ah... I do well enough but I'm not certain we want to force people away when the danger to them isn't clear. Might give the wrong impression. Besides doesn't that smell have a change to cling for awhile?" Geode shakes his head as he walks over to where the military has what passes as their command center. "I assume that orders for evacuation have been issued? What's the status of that if I may enquire."

"Evacuation is proceeding, we are getting everyone out in a five mile radius, but with nothing happening, people are starting to question whether it is necessary."


Beneath the AEGIS suits' helm Abigail grins widely. Unfiltered access to the mind of the Queen of Atlantis? That was intel that was worth more than her suit's weight in gold. Still, at least for now, Aegis pulls out of the woman's mind, instead intending to focus entirely on her work with the obelisk. She could pluck the details of Atlantis' defenses out of Mera's mind at a later date.

For now, Aegis approaches the obelisk, before mentally activating the phasing module on her suit, and slowly reaching out towards the obelisk, not quite touching it as she waits to see if there's any kind of feedback.

Nothing happens as you reach out for the obelisk, but even so, you feel as though something is tensing. The stone itself, perhaps?

[RickAllison]

"Evacuation is proceeding, we are getting everyone out in a five mile radius, but with nothing happening, people are starting to question whether it is necessary."

Ivy whispers, That's my cue... I can clear the crowds! Just tell your men and the Titans to leave my babies alone, or better yet run from them.

With a gentle breath, she scatters spores across the surface of the obelisk. In an instant, the surface of the artifact bursts forth with pink-and-white vines, capped with buds that vaguely resemble mouths... and that start seeking out humans! With a lack of any green and this bizarre "mouth", Ivy hopes to fool the crowds into believing they are alien creatures and run from them.

128 giant flowers that someone well-versed in botany might recognize as the Indian pipe rapidly rush out across the city, seeking out civilians and scattering them away. Occasionally, they will pick up a civilian in their maw and appear to devour them, but this is a ruse. They regurgitate the civilians farther away, sometimes in a heap with others.

[Arcran]

Aegis looks at the obelisk, wondering how in the world it could see like it was flexing.

Heph, you might want to bring up those cybernetic arm plans again. I'm going to try something potentially very, very stupid, Aegis says, before phasing her hand and attempting to push just a few fingers into the pillar, stopping instantly if there's any hostile feedback.

[Lentrax]

Ivy whispers, That's my cue... I can clear the crowds! Just tell your men and the Titans to leave my babies alone, or better yet run from them.

With a gentle breath, she scatters spores across the surface of the obelisk. In an instant, the surface of the artifact bursts forth with pink-and-white vines, capped with buds that vaguely resemble mouths... and that start seeking out humans! With a lack of any green and this bizarre "mouth", Ivy hopes to fool the crowds into believing they are alien creatures and run from them.

128 giant flowers that someone well-versed in botany might recognize as the Indian pipe rapidly rush out across the city, seeking out civilians and scattering them away. Occasionally, they will pick up a civilian in their maw and appear to devour them, but this is a ruse. They regurgitate the civilians farther away, sometimes in a heap with others.

Except, they don't. Wherever your spores touch the obelisk, they emit pain, before they simply cease to be.


Aegis looks at the obelisk, wondering how in the world it could see like it was flexing.

Heph, you might want to bring up those cybernetic arm plans again. I'm going to try something potentially very, very stupid, Aegis says, before phasing her hand and attempting to push just a few fingers into the pillar, stopping instantly if there's any hostile feedback.

Aegis places her hand against the obelisk, and she begins passing through it, but she is no more than a centimeter or so inside, before a warning flashes on her suit's systems.

Make a Toughness check against DC 21

[RickAllison]

Well that is disturbing. The obelisk actively destroys life it comes in contact with. Ivy tests this again, with seedlings started off elsewhere and growing onto it, then a fully-grown vine draped across it, and finally a large tree fallen onto it. It is terrible that some plants must die so others may live, but this is common in nature.

[Lentrax]

http://i1248.photobucket.com/albums/hh483/tempestII/supergirl__sale_on_e_bay_now_____by_carlosbragaart 80-d9c74he_1.jpg?t=1497396673 Zar-vex, Superwoman

Pursing her lips, hovering above, Superwoman retrieved a small, thin, deep pyramid-looking, gun-metal grey device upon the flat end of which was exhibited her House symbol - the House of Vex.

To a human it would just look like the tooth of some dark beast made from granite, but to the Kryptonian, it was so much more. Holding the device upon her palm, still levitating several dozen meters above the obelisk, she allowed the tiny device to wriggle to life as it too came to hover above he palm. It clicked once, twice and then a third time, before gently feather-falling down into Zar's hand where she grasped it and placed it back upon her person.

"Done, taken, they're transmitted to you now," Zar-vex said, her eyes narrowed as she stared at the Obelisk, trying in vain to remember where she had seen that writing before...

ooc:
Zar-vex has a "cellphone" as a piece of equipment. Obviously she's not carrying the latest iPhone, but she'll have a kryptonian equivalent in the shape of those little USB sticks they used in Man of Steel. She took a heap of images with that and beamed it back to Star One.

If she gets another roll for straining her memory: [roll0]

"We have the hieroglyphs on file. They belong to the Neitusians, believed by our scholars to be a system populated by humans by an unknown third party. The glyphs translate to, "For all eternity, banished to the sky, the false gods shall sleep the sleep of the dead.""

There is a pause, and then the AI continues.

"We are having trouble with the remaining languages. We will bring more processes online in an attempt to hasten our translation, however, we have a hypothesis. On this planet, there exists an object called the Rosetta Stone. It provided a translation guide for a hitherto unknowable language by telling the same story in three languages. This may be the situation here, but we will not know until we can decipher a second language."


Well that is disturbing. The obelisk actively destroys life it comes in contact with. Ivy tests this again, with seedlings started off elsewhere and growing onto it, then a fully-grown vine draped across it, and finally a large tree fallen onto it. It is terrible that some plants must die so others may live, but this is common in nature.

Everything that comes in contact with the obelisk dissolves in the same manner. The air is filled with the painful excretions of the plants. OF course, only Ivy is able to detect the pheromones, but the black goo they have dissolved into doesn't smell very pleasant itself.

[userpay]

"Good, I'll wait til the evac is complete before I attempt anything." Though when he turns back around Geode spots Ivy already going at it. "Hey! They haven't finished quite yet-" Geode pauses as he sees what the obelisk does to her plants and moves over to investigate the left over goop. "The hell? Detects as non-magical... Appears to actively kill living material in contact with it... Just what is this thing? I could try to hit it with some rock pillars and crack it open but I'm worrying more and more about what could be on the inside of it if the outside is this bad."

Investligation [roll0]

[RickAllison]

Ivy walks over to the officer in charge of the command center, giving a touch to anyone who tries to stop her. If you would like, I can cause a little bit of a panic. I could send out some plants to either chase off the civilians, or to give the hallucination that trouble is here. That should send them running.

[CandyLaser]

Anna watched with a look of surprise and disgust on her face as the plants dissolved. There was a faint tinge of relief mixed in, as well, which was explained when she spoke up. "Well, now we now what that does. I'm glad I decided not to go poke the obelisk myself. Sorry about the plants, I suppose. That said, I wonder what happens if it comes into contact with something inorganic..." Anna picked up a pebble, then her time dilation field kicked on again. This time, she didn't cloak herself, so the border of the field was marked by shifting blue streamers of light in a rough sphere around her. They didn't last long - just enough time for her to take aim. She held the pebble balanced on her thumb, and with her forefinger she flicked it. When it hit the border of the field it dropped back into normal time, and it was moving at a few thousand miles per hour when it did. There was a crack as it broke the sound barrier, headed right for the obelisk.

We're not exactly the Mythbusters here, but I figure it'll be interesting to see what happens if we shoot at the obelisk. So that's what's happening, albeit with different special effects.

[NineOfSpades]

While the armored newcomer made leave to obilisk, Mera at last took note of what was transpiring in the air overhead towards the apex of the mysterious monolith, and what she saw brought a small but genuine smile to her lips.

Mera did not trust Zar-vex. That was not a mark against the aliens character by any stretch. In all the world, above and below the waters, the number of people that Mera trusted with her entire heart could be counted on one hand without using all the fingers. There had been a time, in her younger days, when she'd been far more willing to put her faith in the honesty of others. Sadly, time and betrayal had taken their toll, and she no longer had the luxury to presume that even the most benign appearances did not conceal a treacherous viper.

Mera may not have trusted the alien, but she didn't consider her an enemy either, and the super-woman had an established pattern of behavior when it came to resolving crisis situations. So, though she did not share the general populations propensity to idolize their cape-clad savior, much like the surface worlders, the sight of of the Kryptonain brought a measure of ease to her worries. "Well met, Zar-vex." Mera called, directing her voice skyward, though it could hardly be called a shout as she understood the kryptonian auditory senses were potent enough to hear her clearly without the need to raise her voice. "I would like your counsel on these occurences" Mera gave a small gesture towards the obilisk as she spoke.

In doing so, she saw the armored-american within arms reach of the nearest side. And it could be said that she was quite confident in her measure of distances, given that the person in question was attempting to touch the piller. "GET BACK!" She commanded, making a single twisting motion with her arm, water rising up to mirror her hand as it grabbed onto the mysterious stranger and dragged them backwards from the structure with abrupt force. It was an act of reflex, done to prevent whatever calamity had unmade the British analysts from claiming another life.


I'll roll an opposed move-object check here, just in case Aegis really wants to resist, though Mera isn't doing anything to hurt her or anything, just physically pulling her out of danger before she gets herself disintigrated.

Move Object: [roll0]

[Arcran]

Aegis sees the warnings flash across her HUD and quickly pulls her hand back, an instant before a wave of water washes her over, carrying her away. In the water, and with so little time to react, Aegis was carried away, ending up not far from Mera on the shore, the purple lights on her suit fading as she deactivates her phasing mode. The supersoldier begins to march up the shore, emotions unreadable beneath her helmet. In reality, Aegis was more than a little annoyed; how the hell is she supposed to study the damn thing if she can't touch it? Still, it would be better to establish a good working relationship with the Queen of Atlantis if at all possible.

Thanks for the help, she states, voice modulator shifting her voice to sound much more male. Name's Aegis. It's an honor to meet you, Queen Mera, Aegis says, bringing a fist to her chest in a salute, before moving it back to her side. What brings you to the fine city of London? she asks, modulator making the sarcasm in the remark difficult to discern.

Of course, even as she speaks to Mera Abigail brings the full force of her psionic might to bear on the Atlantean's mind, trying to figure out what she knew.

More mind reading! Trying to figure out what Mera knows about the obelisk.

[roll0]

[Lentrax]

Aegis sees the warnings flash across her HUD and quickly pulls her hand back, an instant before a wave of water washes her over, carrying her away. In the water, and with so little time to react, Aegis was carried away, ending up not far from Mera on the shore, the purple lights on her suit fading as she deactivates her phasing mode. The supersoldier begins to march up the shore, emotions unreadable beneath her helmet. In reality, Aegis was more than a little annoyed; how the hell is she supposed to study the damn thing if she can't touch it? Still, it would be better to establish a good working relationship with the Queen of Atlantis if at all possible.

Thanks for the help, she states, voice modulator shifting her voice to sound much more male. Name's Aegis. It's an honor to meet you, Queen Mera, Aegis says, bringing a fist to her chest in a salute, before moving it back to her side. What brings you to the fine city of London? she asks, modulator making the sarcasm in the remark difficult to discern.

Of course, even as she speaks to Mera Abigail brings the full force of her psionic might to bear on the Atlantean's mind, trying to figure out what she knew.

More mind reading! Trying to figure out what Mera knows about the obelisk.

[roll0]

As Aegis gets washed away by the sudden wave, she sees the armor on her hand turning into a black substance and getting washed away, but it takes away only the outermost layers, the paint and the outer layer of carbon fiber mesh, but interesting to note is that it is not uniform, there are jagged edges to the removed material, and strips where the damage is slightly less or slightly more. Fortunately, however, the suit is not compromised, and your vitals are elevated, but not indicative of infection or physical harm.

[NineOfSpades]

Mera eyed this soldier, this Aegis over, taking the mans measure. She didn't respond right away, but eventually returned the greeting with a direct "I hope you take more care in the future, Aegis, or next time you may very well find yourself missing an arm." She wasn't agressive, but she also wasn't hiding her disappointment, as she'd heard the American's had some of the best trained and best equipped soldier on the surface world. To so brazenly charge in and dismiss the knowledge of what was supposed to be an allied nation was the height of self-deluded arrogance. Which, as she'd hered, was also very american. "I'd say it's an honor to meet you as well, save for the fact I've no idea who you are or on whose behalf you've come here. In any event, I suggest you brief yourself with the on-site directors form the british special forces, who I am confident would be happy to explain why physical contact with the structure is a potentially fatal mistake."

[Lentrax]

Gotham City

The pebble fires across the distance in less time than it takes to blink. Anna, naturally, watches the entire thing at a much slower speed.

The pebble strikes the obelisk with the loud CRACK! of a bullet shot, and as it shatters, a shimmering effect sweeps in concentric circles along the entire surface of the obelisk. When the motion of the circles ceases, one of the symbols glows a bright golden color for a moment before it fades.

Anna and Ivy notice that another of the strange symbols and words lights as well, one in each of the 'sections.'

London

No sooner does Aegis turn back to the obelisk when suddenly, the air reverberates with the low BWAA! of a gong being struck. Looking at the obelisk, you see that one of the symbols is lit.

Superwoman, after consulting with her ship, is able to confirm that this was the word for dead.

[userpay]

Geode rests his head on his palm and sighs. "I swear... Civilians are still in the vicinity and you all keep prodding the unknown object. Can we at least await affirmation on that process has been finished?" He asks dryly walking back to the others.

[RickAllison]

I offered to chase off all the civilians, but no one seemed to like my way of doing it...

[userpay]

"That's because your method is likely to start a stampede which could cause injuries and make it take longer as a result. Not from you directly but from people injuring each other trying to get away." He shrugs. "That said in a pinch they wouldn't be bad ideas but if we have time for a normal evacuation I prefer that. Besides do you want them to be scared of you? Just... Trying to look out for ya a bit."

[RickAllison]

Frankly, the Indian Pipe already looks alien, and I'm not exactly known for saving kittens stuck in trees. Or saving anyone, really. If I do, it is so my babies can spread farther into the city. But I'm happy to do it your way, Geode dear, so long as it doesn't get too boring... Ivy can't deny that Harley has certainly rubbed off on her, though the insistence on not intending to save others was a little bit of a fib. While the vigilantism had started purely for her selfish needs, she couldn't deny to herself that she liked the attention. It never failed to give her a smile when a woman cornered in an alley could bravely shout to her attackers, "You know that Ivy is around!" Once she had even met a young child who wanted to grow up to be like Ivy (admittedly before it was known that she was actually superpowered...). Publically, Poison Ivy was a menace, but she relished the idea of being the hero of the people.

[CandyLaser]

Anna flushed. Geode's words struck home; once again, she'd gotten too wrapped up in solving a puzzle to think about the potential risks to those nearby. "I can clear the area, in a way that's faster and safer than having plants eat everyone - it'll leave a lot of people surprised, so it might be better to let things run their course naturally rather than risk chaos. But if things turn south here I'll get people clear, ASAP."

[RickAllison]

Ivy pouts and starts growing some plants in the area, including towering trees and vines that encircled the obelisk. If something happens to go horribly wrong, these plants should act as a barrier.

[NineOfSpades]

The deep sound shook through Mera, rocking her bones with the pressure of the sound waves. She needed a moment, just a moment mind you, to steady herself after reflexively flinching away from the blast of unfiltered noise. The spire was responding, at though it’s intentions were still unclear, caution was the only sensible course to take. Mera turned to the closest group of soldiers she could spy. “You there, Soldier! Relay these instructions to all on site personal. Evacuate this area and the surrounding city blocks. Presume all civilians close enough to establish direct lines of sight to the spire are still within the danger zone and will need to be relocated as soon as possible” It was not a request, it was a command, regardless of whether she had the legal authority to issue it.

Mera uses intimidate to get the grunts to comply. She’s not trying to frighten them into submission, but is just getting the point across that her orders are to be followed, not questioned. Hopefully their military training to follow orders, along with the natural fear of this weird alien structure, will compel them to follow along.

Intimidate: [roll0]

[CandyLaser]

Gotham City

The pebble fires across the distance in less time than it takes to blink. Anna, naturally, watches the entire thing at a much slower speed.

The pebble strikes the obelisk with the loud CRACK! of a bullet shot, and as it shatters, a shimmering effect sweeps in concentric circles along the entire surface of the obelisk. When the motion of the circles ceases, one of the symbols glows a bright golden color for a moment before it fades.

Anna and Ivy notice that another of the strange symbols and words lights as well, one in each of the 'sections.'

As plants grew up from the earth, twisting and curling into a barrier, Anna had to give Ivy credit for decisiveness. "Hey, did any of you notice that something lit up when I hit the obelisk? I don't imagine any of you recognize those symbols. They remind me of hieroglyphs, and the Egyptians did make obelisks, but I'm pretty sure they didn't build any that were hidden under Gotham for centuries."

[RickAllison]

The Egyptians couldn't have hidden it here anyway. The ground is intact under the obelisk. It wasn't here before today. I did notice the markings. Hold on a minute, do either of you two have long-range communicators of some sort? I might be able to contact others who could help, but I can't really communicate long-term. A few numbers, though? That I can relay.

[BananaPhone]

http://i1248.photobucket.com/albums/hh483/tempestII/supergirl__sale_on_e_bay_now_____by_carlosbragaart 80-d9c74he_1.jpg?t=1497396673 Zar-vex, Superwoman


"There's more than one language?" Superwoman asked, still floating several dozen meters above the obelisk and staring down at it.

"Rosetta Stone? Where is it...?" she asked, bouncing between linguistic nodes as her eyes widened as an idea formed inside her head on how to acquire this object.

To those far below, it might have looked like Zar-vex was talking to herself. And so when Mera called up to her the Kryptonian seemed distracted, as if preoccupied with a conversation or deep thought that excluded her attention from the outside world. But Zar didn't take long to come around; blinking several times, snapping her focus back to the moment, she looked down and spotted the Atlantean monarch here, at the sight of the Obelisk, along with other fellows - one in some type of armor who was reaching out towards the large stone.

It was within Zar's power to stop the human from doing so. She could move faster than humans could think - it would've taken no effort to interpose herself between the human and the obelisk. But in truth...she kind of wanted to see what would happen. However, she was deprived of this little empirical observation by the monarch of Atlantis, who drew up one hand and, with a gesture, coated the other human in a gush of water that pushed her away from any contact with the intricately carved pillar.

And so, in the aftermath of the minor drama, Superwoman gently floated down, her blood-red cape and golden hair billowing behind her in the cool British breeze.

"Greetings, Your Majesty," Zar-vex spoke, her smooth, rich voice diplomatic in tone as she internally reverted to the premise that she was an ambassador of Krypton to the varies human nations of this planet and thus was required to profess a certain level of decorum. Thus she stood straight, shoulders square with just a dash of friendliness in her timbre.

"I would like your counsel on these occurences"

"I've seen some of them before; but there is not much to give at this time I'm afraid, ma'am. Have you heard of the Rosetta Stone?"



ooc:

I know Aegis is big on invading peoples minds even when she's not welcome to do so :smalltongue:. Supes is half-immune to mental so Ms A gets no thoughts, just a couple seconds of flashing images, in this order:

https://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/dccu/images/3/3e/Genesis_Chamber.png/revision/latest?cb=20140101064242

https://i.stack.imgur.com/CmwnJ.jpg

https://comicnewbies.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/brainiac-attacks-krypton-injustice-ii-4.png

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dOzz4ECW_2A/WDrUr8cgwCI/AAAAAAAADFw/GDmKBBl7lZ0z1rAtR8xWYXuieyy66J5vACLcB/s640/man-of-steel-08.jpg

http://eriklundegaard.com/media/2/jor-el-krytpon-man-of-steel.jpg

https://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/dccu/images/d/d2/Zod_and_Faora_observe_the_destruction_of_Krypton.j pg/revision/latest?cb=20151203004238




You can interpret those as you wish :smalltongue:.

[Lentrax]

The deep sound shook through Mera, rocking her bones with the pressure of the sound waves. She needed a moment, just a moment mind you, to steady herself after reflexively flinching away from the blast of unfiltered noise. The spire was responding, at though it’s intentions were still unclear, caution was the only sensible course to take. Mera turned to the closest group of soldiers she could spy. “You there, Soldier! Relay these instructions to all on site personal. Evacuate this area and the surrounding city blocks. Presume all civilians close enough to establish direct lines of sight to the spire are still within the danger zone and will need to be relocated as soon as possible” It was not a request, it was a command, regardless of whether she had the legal authority to issue it.

Mera uses intimidate to get the grunts to comply. She’s not trying to frighten them into submission, but is just getting the point across that her orders are to be followed, not questioned. Hopefully their military training to follow orders, along with the natural fear of this weird alien structure, will compel them to follow along.

Intimidate: [roll0]


"It's already being done, Ma'am. The Agency is staying on site, but we are doing what we can to facilitate evacuation of London."

[Lentrax]

"Aegis, come in. Unusual activity here. light and tone. Only on one symbol. Confirmed at other sites. Please confirm on your end.

[Arcran]

Do not worry, Queen Mera. I didn't build this suit just to destroy it on a pillar. I took precautions, Aegis states, allowing a tone of pride to creep into her voice. In truth, Hephaestus crafted the suit, but that was hardly a heroic background. As for your other questions, I'm here for the people of London. It's as simple as that. Found myself in the neighborhood, and I couldn't just leave giant obelisks up and running in a civilian center without doing my best to help. It would seem you had the same intentions, Aegis states, even as Abigail forces her mind outwards again, trying to weave its way into Mera's mind.

When Superwoman lands, Abigail smiles under her helm. Once she had what she needed from the Atlantean, she could get to work on the Kryptonian's mind. Still, it couldn't hurt to collaborate a little, in the spirit of goodwill. The Rosetta Stone? Everybody has, Abigail says curtly. Bunch of archaeologists used it to figure out ancient Egyptian. Will it tell us how to read this pillar? Abigail asks, turning on her coms for the last part. Or at least tell us what that one glowing symbol means?



Still focusing on Mera! [roll0]

[userpay]

"Lit up? Where?" Geode looks over the obelisk once more. "Still the strangest thing is how they appeared, no residual magic auras in the area yet no prior presence either, nor to my knowledge are there records of Egyptians being anywhere close to this location in ancient times... Unless there's some other power source I'm unaware of I can't begin to wonder where it came from. As to long distance communications I'm tapped into the cell network, who do you want me to ring?"

[BananaPhone]

http://i1248.photobucket.com/albums/hh483/tempestII/supergirl__sale_on_e_bay_now_____by_carlosbragaart 80-d9c74he_1.jpg?t=1497396673 Zar-vex, Superwoman

Egyptians? Another one of the humans ethnic groups. Were she an anthropologist, Zar-vex might have found herself in heaven; a whole new species, complete with sub-cultures and ethnicities, unexplored and uncontacted and right here for her to study! But, that's not where Zar's profession lay.

"Perhaps. I've seen these before - and I hope that it is only a coincidence. Where did you say this stone was held?" Zar asked, her tone friendly and measured as she addressed the armored woman.

[CandyLaser]

"Lit up? Where?" Geode looks over the obelisk once more. "Still the strangest thing is how they appeared, no residual magic auras in the area yet no prior presence either, nor to my knowledge are there records of Egyptians being anywhere close to this location in ancient times... Unless there's some other power source I'm unaware of I can't begin to wonder where it came from. As to long distance communications I'm tapped into the cell network, who do you want me to ring?"

"Do you know any historians or linguists?? I could run to the British Museum and take a look at the Rosetta Stone, but they'd probably be upset if I brought it here..."

[userpay]

"Do you know any historians or linguists?? I could run to the British Museum and take a look at the Rosetta Stone, but they'd probably be upset if I brought it here..."

"Directly? No. But where there's symbols there's the possibility for magic which is my area of expertise." Geode moves to where the symbols are pointed out, trying to study them for clues.

Expertise Magic: [roll0]

[NineOfSpades]

Mera had forced herself to absorb as much knowledge as possible about the current state of the surface-world, so as to better acclimate herself to the political and social networks that she's was hoping to integrate with. But such examinations were not performed with any great consideration to the immensity of time, with even her most exhausted research only spanning back towards the major events of the past century. This Rosetta stone may be an object of some historical significance, but it hadn't made enough of an impact on the course of global events for it to have garnered notice, and as such, she was in the dark as to what sort of object it might be.

A fool, upon facing their own ignorance, will attempt to don the airs of expertise and feign knowledge in the hopes of disguising their shortcomings. Mera simply kept quiet, listening to the short dialog between Aegis and Zar-vex, learning from context that this object would hopefully provide a means of analyzing and interpreting the glyphs on the structures surface.

[Arcran]

I'm not sure, Aegis admits. Most likely it's in a museum of some sort, although I don't know where off the top of my head. If we can get a phone, a quick Google search will give us all the information we need, most likely, Aegis states.

You there! Aegis shouts at the nearest soldier, pointing at him. Do you have a smartphone on you?

[Lentrax]

"Uh, no. But we have an uplink in the CC."

[BananaPhone]

Zar-vex, Superwoman

"Google?" Zar asked curiously, a slender, yellow eyebrow raised at the question as her mind scrambled for what this thing could be.

It didn't take long for the realisation to hit her: Google was a human rapid delivery device for information, across their global network.

"Oh yes, your In-ternet!" she piped up with a smile.

Reaching to her hip, Zar produced the same small, finger-sized gun-metal-gray device that she had used to take pictures of the obelisk. Holding it upon her palm, it sifted to life once more and elevated itself to hover above her outstretched hand.

Zar-vex then spoke to the tiny device in a language that was as alien in its syntax as it was in its sound, though the word "Rosetta" was discernable within the gobbledygook.

ooc:

Zar-vex is using her smartphhone to do a google search, essentially :smalltongue:; she's asking it to use the humans internet to search for the Rosetta stone and its location.

[Arcran]

Aegis frowns as the soldier is less than helpful, before hearing a buzz over her comms.

British National Museum. Less than a mile north.

The supersoldier gives a barely perceptible nod, before looking at the other two women. Sounds like it's currently in the British Museum, about a mile north of here, if the internet is telling the truth today. Mera, do you think you can pull rank and get us some special access to it?

[CandyLaser]

"Directly? No. But where there's symbols there's the possibility for magic which is my area of expertise." Geode moves to where the symbols are pointed out, trying to study them for clues.

Expertise Magic: [roll0]

"While you're looking into that, I think I'll check out the other obelisks. Back in a flash." A moment's focus reawakened Anna's description field, slowing time down to a crawl. Not a fast crawl, either - this was a "newborn baby on downers" crawl. From Anna's perspective, the world froze. Colors even shifted faintly, growing redder as light itself came to a near halt. She sighed - even though she could alter her own perception of time somewhat, walking across the Atlantic was going to be dull. Still, there was nothing for it. Anna left, taking a few steps before she shifted out of phase and went incorporeal again, then a few more before she let light bend around her as she moved, rendering her invisible as well. Off she went, picking her way across Gotham, heading east to the coast, and there she stepped out onto the water. With time effectively frozen, the water supported her as well as anything else did, and so she took her long, lonely sojourn across the Atlantic, heading to London.

As far as everyone else saw, Anna simply vanished, leaving a trail of blue tracery that went east for about a quarter-mile. A similar trail marked her arrival at the obelisk in London, a handful of seconds later. She came to a halt and gave the people assembled there a grin. "Well, fancy meeting you all here. I'm Anna Century - I was just in Gotham. We've got one of these things over there too. I was planning on taking a look at all of them, but since you're here, maybe you know what's going on."

[NineOfSpades]

The supersoldier gives a barely perceptible nod, before looking at the other two women. Sounds like it's currently in the British Museum, about a mile north of here, if the internet is telling the truth today. Mera, do you think you can pull rank and get us some special access to it?

Now that was an interesting question. Mera had no doubt that either Zar-vex or herself could acquire this object by force if motivated to do so, unless the security features of British Museum's was far about what her expectations were. But that was hardly needed, as she'd already established a point of contact. "I believe an arrangement can be made"

Turning on her heel, Mera strode the short distance back to the mobile-command center, and to where she spoke with Mother and Agent 23. To whomever of the two she was able to locate first, Mera did as she'd promised and shared the information that had come to light. "Zar-vex's technology has begun translating the text on the structures surface, but there are gaps which it lacks the data to fill. At present, we believe that an artifact currently held in one of your museums, the Rosetta Stone, may provide the information needed to complete the process and decipher whatever messages are inscribed." Mera suspected her request was self evident at this point, but she presented it in any case, aware that what was being asked may not be a small matter. "I would like to request permission to access the stone, and potentially remove it from the meuseum's holding for a time, to hopefully enable a complete translation. I understand that there may be some reluctence to oblige this request, but at present we have very little knowledge as to what this object is or what it may do, and translating the text in full is the best avenue of investigation currently available."


Persuasion to get permission to use the stone.

[roll0]

[userpay]

"Mmm... I've still got nothing. It doesn't seem to be a magic based script and we've still have no leads on how they appeared." Geode scratches his helmet. "What do you mean check out the-" Yet as he turns all that's left is the trail of blue that faded out. "Other... Is she really that fast? Pyrite pull up screens of the other obelisks if there's any live feeds still, might as well see whose responding where."

[Lentrax]

Now that was an interesting question. Mera had no doubt that either Zar-vex or herself could acquire this object by force if motivated to do so, unless the security features of British Museum's was far about what her expectations were. But that was hardly needed, as she'd already established a point of contact. "I believe an arrangement can be made"

Turning on her heel, Mera strode the short distance back to the mobile-command center, and to where she spoke with Mother and Agent 23. To whomever of the two she was able to locate first, Mera did as she'd promised and shared the information that had come to light. "Zar-vex's technology has begun translating the text on the structures surface, but there are gaps which it lacks the data to fill. At present, we believe that an artifact currently held in one of your museums, the Rosetta Stone, may provide the information needed to complete the process and decipher whatever messages are inscribed." Mera suspected her request was self evident at this point, but she presented it in any case, aware that what was being asked may not be a small matter. "I would like to request permission to access the stone, and potentially remove it from the meuseum's holding for a time, to hopefully enable a complete translation. I understand that there may be some reluctence to oblige this request, but at present we have very little knowledge as to what this object is or what it may do, and translating the text in full is the best avenue of investigation currently available."


Persuasion to get permission to use the stone.

[roll0]



"Well," said Agent 23. "You could, however, we do not know what possible use it could be, since we have ruled out all Earth languages. But if you think it could be of use, we can arrange for you to be able to view it."

[BananaPhone]

Zar-vex, Superwoman


Sometimes being a fish-out-of-water just meant being quiet and watching - which is what Zar did.

At first she was going to suggest going to the museum, explaining the situation and trusting the proprietors and making off with the Rosetta Stone!

But alien as she was...Zar didn't think it would be that easy.

"Viewing it should be fine," Superwoman said as she stepped forward, her eyes upon the agent and her smile brought.

Keep it diplomatic and friendly, she told herself.

[Lentrax]

The Stone is on display, held up at eye level for everyone visiting the museum to see it.

It is accompanied by several descriptions, detailing the translated text, along with factoids and insights into how it was used to translate the other languages, and how the information was finally verified.

But you are not sure how this will help you now. This artifact does not contain any language used on the obelisks, nor does it seem in any way to correspond with the phenomenon of the glowing symbol.

Then the air gongs again.

"We have confirmed reports. The sounds are different at each site, and both tones are different from each other. American agencies will be conducting sonic tests, asking for live link with London event to determine whether there is immediate response from other sites."

[BananaPhone]

Zar-vex, Superwoman


Superwoman's ears perked up and she looked about as she detected the radio chatter. What were the humans doing?

Narrowing her eyes in thought, Superwoman once more produced her finger-sized, gun-metal grey device that levitated above her open palm.

"Star One; this is what you needed, the Rosetta stone," as she held her hand up so it could observe the rock.

The item itself was a curiosity, that much was sure. Never much one for anthropology, the Kryptonian nevertheless gave thought to the age of the stone that put it at a bit over 2,000 years old.

Two millennium ago. At that point in history, humans were carving their writings into rocks, while Zar's own people were accomplishing wonders among the stars.

Peering at that stone, the Kryptonian seemed lost in thought as her ships AI went about whatever processes it had needed this object for. For Zar-vex, however, her minds-eye drifted into the lamentations for a past greatness that was too long gone. It had been a time when they had been bold, adventurous and confident: pushing the boundaries of what they could know and accomplish. Boundaries whose retreat, ironically, only seemed to catalyse their lethargy as their strength and energy decayed into self-indulgence and hedonism. It had been a steady decline, but one that had met a precipitous end when that...thing, Braniac, had almost wiped them out.

As much as Zar-vex hated what that monster had tried to do, she couldn't help but wonder what future could have been created if Brainiac had not detonated their planets core. Could their near extinction have shaken them out of apathy, and reinvigorated them back onto the path to greatness? A society born anew?

Or was she truly going to be the last of her kind. Her memories and history nothing more than memories destined for exhibition in some museum as a relic of a bygone age, much like this stone?

ooc:
Zar-vex is "taking pictures" with her "smart phone" and sending it back to the AI on Star One.

[Lentrax]

"I did not need the Stone, Captain. I was merely pointing it out as a relevant analogue to the appearance of the three languages. It is likely meant as a warning that what is inside should not be tampered with, or in any way released back into the world. But if we take it as a warning at face value, then any attempt at entering these, for wont of a better word, prisons should be stopped at any cost, before whatever is inside is released."


Gotham

The government has arrived. They have begun setting up some very elaborate equipment, and are apparently starting to attempt to pierce the obelisk. But the first two machines they tried to use dissolved after contacting the obelisk. Since then, they appear to have taken a break. then returned with what looked like a massive cannon. They aimed it at the obelisk, and then with a loud BANG! a device shot out the end. It expanded as it hurtled toward the obelisk, many arms containing an instrument of some kind, each of them different.

When the probe struck the obelisk, it gonged again, this time, a different pitch. And again, a word began to glow. Simultaneously, each of the other obelisks rang again, with a different tone than what came before.

But this time, something else has happened as well. A crack has appeared. A crack which begins to emit a white light so bright, that it seems to darken the daylight by comparison.

[BananaPhone]

Zar-vex, Superwoman

The Kryptonian opened her mouth to speak, her free hand coming up in an accusatory gesture towards the thin device - but she paused pre-sentence.

/"...what?"/ she said in Kryptonian, /"I thought you said...grrrr"/ she growled softly.

"So it's a prison?" she asked, this time in English, before repeating what Star One had said earlier, "For all eternity, banished to the sky, the false gods shall sleep the sleep of the dead..."

Abruptly, Zar's head tilted to the side as her super-sensitive ears detected something distant, her right eyebrow perking up in response.

"Star One, can you tell anything about the obelisks harmonics?"

[Lentrax]

Unfortunately, no. There have not been enough occurrences to determine if there is a pattern. However, we will continue to monitor and advise you if our analysis changes.

Gotham

Apparently, the government has determined that their managing to breach the obelisks exterior is cause enough to send in a group of armored individuals. Ivy and Geode can see them gearing up in the distance.

[CandyLaser]

In London, Anna moved to inspect the obelisk. She had a perfect memory, and so she compared it to the one in Gotham, taking careful note to examine the symbols. Perhaps they were different, or perhaps different ones were lit? Either way, that would be information, and perhaps with care some data could be teased out. Those watching saw her seem to vanish and reappear in different places all around the obelisk, moving so quickly as to seem not to traverse the intervening space at all.

[BananaPhone]

Zer-vex, Superwoman


Zar stood there, slightly red-faced as her ship informed her that, no dumbass, you got it wrong!

Lips pursed, her eyes moving back and forth to ensure no one else was watching or listening, the Kryptonian composed herself and coughed softly as she squared her shoulders, lifted her head and nodded once.

"Yes, well, thank you very much, Star One. Capital help as always!" she said with seeming genuity.

Drawing herself away from the exhibit and turning about, she spotted the thickening crowd of people that had been watching her, camera's clicking and a soft murmur sifting back and forth between the crowd.

Offering a awkward smile that became a wider one, Zar waved once with her right hand, "Hey folks!" as she bashfully moved away and through them, "don't mind me! Just going about important...er, duties, yes, that's it! Keep out of trouble now!" she pointed, smiled and grinned-with-teeth as she gently moved through the throng of people, "yup, 'scuse me, pardon, yup just a bit to the left..." until finally emerging out the other side.

Free at last, her face still carrying a soft red, Zar took to the skies with her red cape billowing behind her. It only took 1...2...seconds to return to the obelisk, as her figure seemed to materialise in a soft gush of air above the object and an expectant Mera and armor woman.

Gently floating down until she was on her feet, Zar held up up one hand in a gun-symbol (https://previews.123rf.com/images/dekanaryas/dekanaryas1412/dekanaryas141200034/34377736-Woman-hand-making-sign-two-or-gun-sign-Isolated-on-white-background-Stock-Photo.jpg) towards Mera: "It's a prison." she spoke, nodded and lowered her hand.

[RickAllison]

Calling upon a great vine and offering a ride to Geode, Ivy is taken over to the government fellows. I don't mean to interrupt, but if you would like then I would aid your efforts. Not by attempting to breach it the with you, as I have not trained in your methods. I can offer creation of barriers such as I have placed already, reconnaissance, healing, and other aid. All things that you may notice keep me away from the danger. I would like to resolve this situation, not be a hero. And it seems that is the kind of help that would be useful, here.

[userpay]

Geode watches the government's efforts with some amusement as attempt after attempt fails. Until... One doesn't? "Well... That was unexpected." He stands there for a bit watching it before Ivy draws his attention to further set up attempts by the government. "Alright, lets say hi shall we?" Accepting Ivy's offer. Once over he gives a jaunty wave. "I on the other hand would like to accompany your team, rearguard if you'd prefer that. This is something clearly beyond that of normal technology if not supernatural in origin which intrigues me greatly."

[NineOfSpades]

Before the gust of wind generated by the supersonic departure of the cape-clad kryptonian had settled, Mera turned her attention outward to briefly assess how things were progressing on the global scale. The tremors from the structures emergence had passed by Atlantis without incident, and the immediate repairs to the dome had been complete, with groundwork in place for more permanent fortifications to commence.

It was only a few moments, before the airwaves shook again as the Superwoman touched down, and relayed the newest discovery. “A prison?” the queen asked, her eyebrow giving a slight twitch upwards in momentary puzzlement. Admittedly, it was not an option that she had expected, as the obilisk’s design was very different from what one would expect from a prison. Though, it did make some sort of sense, if you presumed that the destructive interaction with living tissue was a mechanism implemented to safeguard against external agents attempting to breach the containment, or to inhibit whatever was contained in the prison from attacking its bars. “I suppose that then begs two obvious questions. The first being, what was this prison designed to contain. The second, are we looking at multiple obelisks across the planets surface designed to hold multiple prisoners, or is this a single prison designed on a planetary scale.”

[BananaPhone]

Superwoman, Zar-vex

"I'd want to know what it's a prison for; and who made it," Zer-vex mentioned, her eyes turning back to the Obelisk and inspecting it up and down.

"We have these hieroglyphs on record. They're from a race called the Neitusians, but I don't know much more than that about them. They say: "For all eternity, banished to the sky, the false gods shall sleep the sleep of the dead.""

Her arms folded over her abdomen, Zar-vex looked over her shoulder back at Mera, "what do you think that means?"

In Zar-vex's mind, if anyone had any idea, it'd be Mera. Monarch of an underwater civilsiation on this planet - chances are they had knowledge and a long memory of this worlds origin.

[Lentrax]

The military nods to Ivy, asking her to take up a position nearby.

To Geode, they simply shrug and ask if he is aware that they are not responsible for him if he enters the obelisk with them, because, as the commander put it, "I sure as heck can't stop you."


Copy that, team one. Is it large enough for breach?

"Affirmative. The entry will be difficult since we can't touch the damn thing, but if we line up the drop, we can make it in. And our probe we sent in hasn't dissolved after touching the walls or floor inside, but there is enough jamming that we can't get a clear pcture of what's in there.

Copy that. Team one, standby to breach. Team two, ready for backup and extraction.


Soon, a new structure is erected, with what looks like a fifteen foot slide at the top, lined up directly with the hole in the obelisk.

Atop this structure five soldiers perform final checks of their weapons and gear.

"Command," the leader says, the voice coming from the helmeted soldier revealing her to be a woman. "This is Team One. We are ready to go."

Copy that Team One.

"What about you?" The soldier asks. "You ready for this?"