Skyside 6: Return of the Cheddar

[Rebonack]

[Tempest Row Spaceport]

Ugh.

Gods.

A good chunk of the time they're just really powerful fae messing with people.

And near as Zee can tell, that's more or less what the 'Ruinous Powers' are. Beings made of the collective emotions of mortals spit out into a roiling sea of unreality? Totally aes shee. She's pretty sure here that these Tyranid things aren't directly related to daemons, though. They're a completely different type of existential threat.

Regardless, she continues her work.

In this particular case?

Aiming at preventing the man from being alarmed in case Minerva's guess is off-base.

[Deathkeeper]

Tellysandra’s Manse

Anri nods. ”Very well, Ma’am. Though I warn you that I am not physically capable of laughter.” She pauses.
”And if I may be so bold, what sort of people are ‘people such as myself?’ ”

[Earl of Purple]

Tempest Row Spaceport

The loading overseer frowns at the words of the Sister. "We are loyal servants of the Imperium, humanity and the Emperor. We don't tolerate heresy, blasphemy, mutation or witchcraft aboard. With, uh, sanctioned exceptions." He licks his lips, a sign of how nervous he is. He thinks the Sororitas is looking for an excuse to execute him; if he's wrong, and she really is a heretic herself, then she might be a useful asset to the Patriarch... Or she might be a bigger threat than he feared. She looks odd, but the Ecclesiarchy wouldn't let a mutant into their military wing, would they? It's probably an ethnic thing. "The... The Four-Armed Emperor offers salvation to those that join our family, and blessings upon our children, if you truly wish to be inducted it would likely require... Sacrifices." Meaning breaking any vows of chastity she may have sworn when she took up the sacred flamer of the Adepta Sororita.

Zee will find that he's more nervous than alarmed, though he is coming to trust her. His brain is very different from standard humanity's, but there's no direct traps within his mind. He's just empathic enough to detect the minds of his extended family, not powerful enough to do anything about it.

[Shadowcaller]

Tempest Row Spaceport

Minerva expression is neutral to these revelations. Even Zee might have trouble to tell what she's really feeling, but she wouldn't have a hard time guessing. "And your family consist of the crew of the ship? Is the rogue trader part of it? Or do you have to keep it a secret to him?"

[Earl of Purple]

Tempest Row Spaceport

"My family are on the ship, yes. The whole crew? No. Most of it, yes. I've never met the Rogue Trader. Don't know if they're part of the family. Maybe." He's a ship's rating, barely even an officer. He's nowhere near important enough to meet the Rogue Trader he works for. "Nobody mentions it in public, it's only because we're alone and... and I trust you." He really shouldn't, though. He knows trusting her is a bad idea, but can't help himself.

[Rebonack]

[Tempest Row Spaceport]

"And it's Correct that you trust her," Zee says gently, noting the slight cognitive dissonance flaring and moving to quietly whisk it away. "Since you're both faithful servants of the Emperor, in your own ways."

Yeah!

They both serve the Emperor, after all.

The bald man's version just has a few more arms.

That isn't a big deal, right?

Right.

Minerva totally isn't going to set him on fire and/or shoot him with her bolter.

Everything is just fine.

[Lord Magtok]

Parks and Reanimation

"Oh, so they do hire for those sortsa roles then! Well, uh, that's good." Fidelia seems to miss the aspect that might be worrying Jenette about it; the fear that the spot is filled, and they can't take any more healing faculty. Which seems like a foolish assumption, to be honest - VIGIL's a big organization! It has all sorts of PCs and NPCs running around, going on dangerous missions, risking life and limb... surely they'll always have demand for more folks capable of stitching the idiots up after their latest act of foolhardy bravado leaves a good-sized hole in them.

"What, um, what about a pact or something? Y'know, like all those holy knight types like to make. Borrow the strength sometimes instead of, like, cursing yourself with it, I guess."

"What, become an actual, unironic, for real Saint Lazarus?" Jen raises an eyebrow, before actually pausing to give it some thought. The only church of any real significance in the Nexus is the old temple of Inari, but she wouldn't have to become a paladin of an established religion for this plan to work. In fact, a smaller deity might be more likely to help her out, since they'd both have a lot to gain from working together, her preaching the deity's message and wonderful miracles, the deity getting her out of this awful undead situation. Plus, Jenette's not really too big on foxes and rice, and she's pretty sure those are core tenets of the Inari faith.

"We could, maybe. We'd have to do some shopping for deities and find out if walking into a church burns me first."

[Shadowcaller]

Tempest Row Spaceport

Minerva's expression darkens. "So you feel ashamed of it? In the belief of your emperor?" Minerva glares daggers at the man as she gestures at the workers. "Tell them all to come over here. If they trust in your four-armed emperor, I want them all to sing his praise out loud or be executed for the heresy they all commited for their secularism! I won't abide to your lax treatment of the faith."

Tellysandra’s Manse

Anri nods. ”Very well, Ma’am. Though I warn you that I am not physically capable of laughter.” She pauses.
”And if I may be so bold, what sort of people are ‘people such as myself?’ ”

Tellysandra’s Manse

"My new servants of course. Those who haven't learned the ropes just yet." She pats the seat next to her. "You too Butler, it shows some really bad people getting what they deserve. You'll enjoy it."

[Reinholdt]

[Tellysandra's Manse]

Butler steps forward and bows towards Lady Tellysandra. "If you don't mind ma'am, I'd like to go clean and rearrange a guest bedroom on behalf of Madam Larouge. They're poorly set up for someone of her size and number of legs ma'am. I should be back by the time you're finished in order to show her around ma'am."

[Deathkeeper]

Tellysandra’s Manse

Well, Anri suspects she is not going to like this, but she has little choice in the matter. It would be a poor move to refuse her new boss half a minute into her service.
Anri nods gratefully to Butler. He’s being nice to her, and she would thank him properly later. Sadly she cannot fit on any of these seats. She hopes one day she’ll find some that she can use.

[Earl of Purple]

Tempest Row Spaceport

"Are the cogboys ashamed of their faith? No. Do they talk about it in public? Also no. It's not the belief we keep secret. It's the worship we keep secret. We all serve the Emperor." Even if his has a few more arms and isn't human. "I'd have to go over to 'em to bring 'em over. Easier if we go to them. Besides, if somebody came up and stole the stuff we're loading because we're not paying attention, we'd all be whipped. If we're lucky, and aren't just spaced. I'm in charge, I'll probably just be spaced no matter what happens to the others." Being thrown out of an airlock isn't a particularly pleasant way to go, and he's finding himself trusting the Sister, which is why he's willing to argue.

[Shadowcaller]

Tempest Row Spaceport

"Then we'll come to them instead. That way I can keep an eye on your cargo while you perform your holy duties. But I won't hold you for long." Minerva claims as she starts moving towards the ship. She seems to have plans.

Tellysandra’s Manse

Telly shrugs. "Alright, if you say so Butler. Have fun with your bed making I suppose." She didn't doubt he would though. Butler was a peculiar fellow.
The archwarlock then turns to Anri. "I suppose I do need to give you some context first. There is this gnoll nation called Rykodia that have something of a beef with me. They're goverment is filled with racist autocrats that spread lies about everyone else to make their nation seem better in comparison. Which takes a lot of effort considering that they're murdering and supressing their own citizens all the time. Trust me Anri, if you knew these people you'd think they deserved to die. They actively make the world worse just to keep existing a little longer." She gestures at the screen. "Now, a few days ago their goverment controlled media covering this dumb military parade live and all of sudden they started to spread these lies about me, along with some doctored pictures." The archwarlock grins. "But that's when they finally would get their comupance as they ****ed with the wrong person." A beat. "Did you know that curses work through social media too? Demons can do amazing things over the internet if you know what you're doing."

[Earl of Purple]

Tempest Row Spaceport

He nods at that, and heads off to where the Sentinel Loader works on packing the shuttle with crates and boxes. He'll stop a short distance away and yell. "Oi! Turn that thing off and get out, the Sister wants us all together! Meet us on the shuttle, yeah?" Then, receiving a nod and a thumbs up, he walks to some rungs indented in the shuttle's hull and starts climbing. Might be easier to go into the spacecraft and traverse the internal corridors and use a lift; but this external ladder is quicker, and they'd need to use one at some point anyway to get to the roof.

The Sentinel pilot will be a few more minutes, since he'll grab another load and carry it into the hold first. It'd be a waste of time otherwise, and it puts him inside where he can use the lift to the top deck and then a ladder to the top hatch.

[Reinholdt]

[Tellysandra's Manse]

Butler smiles and straightens up. "I will, thank you ma'am." The mostly naked catboy turns and heads out to get started on that! Hooray, domestic chores! They're just the best.

[Rebonack]

[Tempest Row Spaceport]

Once the bald man is out of earshot, Zee will whisper at the Sister of Battle.

"Are you planning on toasting them all when they line up? If this is going to break out in a fight knowing ahead of time would be handy," Zee says. "Especially since they've got that big gun. I'm pretty sure I would survive and you've got that armor, but there are quite a few people around the dock who might not be so fortunate when bullets start flying."

As she speaks she glances about at all the dock workers nearby.

She has no idea who these people are. Or what they're like.

But she's concerned for their well-being.

"If this IS going to be a fight, give me some sort of sign before you open fire. I can focus on making sure the big gun gets busted quickly. And... well... if it isn't a fight brewing then I guess a sign really isn't necessary?"

Unless Minerva simply enjoys giving people signs. That's okay, too.

[Deathkeeper]

[Tellysandra’s Manse]

”Well, I suppose I will have to tell my assistant to demon-proof our computers. So what’s it going to be? The horrific death kind of curse or the make-their-life-hell kind of curse?” she says, her voice completely lacking in enthusiasm. She isn’t much interested in seeing people tormented, but she isn’t in a position to refuse.

[Earl of Purple]

Tempest Row Nearly Free Clinic For The Gainfully Employed

It's a small place, really, this clinic. Got a single ward of beds, a couple of medical scanning devices and four doctors of below-average skill, and two large bouncers with heavy clubs and second-hand body armour. The prices are reasonably cheap, subsidised by a larger and more advanced hospital in the Cloudtops that didn't want to be clogged with petty shopkeepers, publicans, and floor managers. Most of the true labourers in Skyside's industrial areas can't afford even these prices, not without selling a kidney or two (although if they're healthy enough, that is a valid payment option).

Today, the peace has been disturbed by a dark-skinned and hairless man wearing a plastic duck mask and a loop of LEDs behind his ears and over the top of his head. He's also wearing a dirty white laboratory coat underneath a system of wires metal loops hooked up to what looks like a car battery on his back. Resting on his shoulder is a mechanical parrot, with multicoloured feathers from a household duster crudely taped onto its metal shell, and he carries a black rucksack. He rode in on a motorcycle-looking thing with four legs, fast and agile enough to weave through the crowds. One of the bouncers tried to stop him and hit him with his club, but all the force he delivered into the blow is stopped and redirected back into the club by the gadget over the villain's lab coat, shattering the club and the bouncer's wrists.

He jumps up onto a table as the witnesses panic and start to run away. "Greetings, fellow doctors, patients, nurses and... uh, him with the broken arms. Who I am is unimportant."
"Your name is: Liam Mc-" The parrot interrupts.
"Shut up! Not now, stupid thing. Anyway, I'm here to rob you, so please put all your monetary notes- not coins! I don't want any coins, no matter what they are made of! Into the bag. Also, I need a pint and a half of Iohexol, one of the magnets from your MRI machine, and that man's digital watch. Is that everything, Polly?" He turns to the robo-parrot on his shoulder.
"Today's shopping list: Pint and half Iohexol, MRI magnet, a litre of milk, six jars Captain Cosmos' Cracking Instant Coffee, clothes detergent, and don't forget to have lunch whilst you're out." The parrot bobs its head vigorously, shedding feathers and bits of sticky tape.
"Well, you heard the parrot! Anything on that list, and that man's digital watch!" He points at a floor manager for a factory making bullets it sells to the ubiquitous gangs, who is hurriedly taking off a pretty standard digital watch.

[bc56]

TRNFCFTGE
No way was I typing the whole thing out."

No supervillain can act for long without attracting heroic attention, not even in Skyside (maybe especially not in Skyside, where there isn't anyone enforcing laws against vigilantism). Someone was bound to notice Liam the mysterious supervillain's caper sooner or later. Jason Fisher, sometimes called Recoil, Phalanx, Hoplite, or whatever he's dubbed the current iteration of his suit, runs across the rooftops to the scene of the crime. He's wearing a full body suit of turquoise plastic armor with a Greco-Roman style to it. Jason drops from the roof of a nearby building in front of the clinic and calmly enters. "You might want to cancel that shopping trip." He doesn't attack. He'll let Liam make the first move.

[Earl of Purple]

Nearly Free Clinic

"Shopping list: deleted." Says the parrot, as the... mysterious supervillain turns to face the entrance.
"What? No! Undelete that shopping list right now!" In response, the parrot shakes its head, apparently unwilling- or unable- to undo the deletion. "Ugh, you heroes are all the same. 'No, don't rob the clinic for its second-hand medical equipment, they need it to help sick people'. Well, I need it too, and I can't just beg money for a new one off some decadent hob nob in a palatial apartment. I've got bills to pay. But that's not why I'm stealing the magnet. I'm going to build a hovercar, and I need to repulse the Earth's magnetic field. So I need a magnet. Because hovercars are awesome and I'm going to build one." He reaches into his labcoat and pulls out a gun. It's very clearly built around a cordless hair dryer, with some blue LEDs in the barrel, an LCD screen on the side and a wooden knob on the side that looks like it was taken from a wardrobe. "But now, I have a... uh, I'm calling this a pocket blast pistol, and you do not. So I suggest you turn around and leave, before I disintegrate your face, or boil you alive with superheated steam, or... shoot you with this gun, which clearly does both of those things because I'm a handsome genius who is smart and modest." He doesn't fire it yet, though. He doesn't know how many shots it has, or what it actually fires.

Polly the parrot spreads its wings and takes off, though it doesn't flap its wings; it's using a pair of tiny helicopter rotors built into the wings. It'll land on top of a filing cabinet in the corner, where it should be safe from stray fire.

[bc56]

Nearly Free Clinic

"Seriously? That's the monologue you're going with?" Jason is somewhat flabbergasted. This supervillain seems to have an attention span of a few seconds. "And that gun is pretty clearly a hair dryer you glued lights to." Jason is definitely wrong on that count, but that's what it looks like. He clenches his left hand, and a rectangular shield made of light springs forth from his left guantlet, which he raises in a ready stance. "Are you going to come quietly?"

[Earl of Purple]

Nearly Free Clinic

"Wait, I was monologuing? Polly, why didn't you warn me?" He looks at his shoulder, but Polly's not there any more. "Oh! You asked me a question. Polly, repeat the question."
"Polly, why didn't you warn me?" Replies the parrot.
"Not that question! Never mind, not important. Oh! You said this was a hair dryer! Well, yes, it was. And your shield is made of light, making it a hologram and therefore no defence at all. Even so, since this is just a hairdryer, you'll stand still whilst I shoot it, right?" He grins, turns the knob on the side and fires it. The blue lights brighten as a sphere is formed inside the ex-hair-dryer's barrel and is launched from it. The sphere's quite slow, so Jason could just step aside so it misses him. Regardless, when the sphere hits a solid target, it rapidly expands into a four metre wide sphere which pushes everything out of its way very quickly before it disappears. The sphere is a force-field, nearly impregnable, and the expansion is fast- if it does hit, shield or no Jason be knocked to one side with a lot of force. He might break something, but since the force is only exerted against him for four metres (or less, if it struck something behind him) it's unlikely it'll do much damage. It does a lot of damage to the floor, though; unlike Jason, the floor and walls can't be thrown, and were forced out of the way of the expanding sphere.

The good news is that the lights inside the bubble-gun's barrel has gone out, and it either needs reloading, recharging or repairing.

[bc56]

Nearly Free Clinic

To be honest, Jason didn't expect the hairdryer gun to work. He steps out of the way of the initial shot, but did not expect the explosion, and is knocked off his feet. He pushes himself upright with a grunt and points his right hand at Liam. "I think you'll find these holograms can be quite real." A beam of light fires from his wrist at Liam. If it hits, it will hit with physical force, like a strong punch.

[Earl of Purple]

Nearly Free Clinic

"Oh, so that's what it does! That's pretty cool." Liam was expecting it to work, he just didn't know what it was going to do. He doesn't bother dodging, still reasonably sure he's being attacked with holograms, not physical light. So he's hit by the beam, but the network of wires and metal hoops around his body work on dissipating and redirecting it. They're better against physical rather than energy attacks, so the supervillain stumbles backwards a step and falls off the table. "Ow, a kinetic energy beam! Wasn't expecting that. Your stuff's cool." He says, rather enthusiastically as he stands up. "Polly, attack plan delta six." The parrot doesn't react, since that's not a valid command (a good idea, since it recognised and obeyed Jason's order earlier), but it might keep the hero on his toes as he's now expecting an attack from the air.

He stands back up and twirls the knob again, though the lights are still off and when Liam tries to fire it, nothing happens. He turns it over in his hand, getting distracted, and hits it a couple of times but the lights remain off. So he pulls a screwdriver out and starts loosening some of the screws.

[bc56]

Nearly Free Clinic

Jason is somewhat surprised. Apparently this villain can't even pay attention to the fight for long. Despite his commands, the parrot seems to be doing nothing, so Jason advances on Liam, raising his shield and drawing a pair of handcuffs from his utility belt. Hopefully he can catch the absent-minded supervillain unawares.

[Earl of Purple]

Nearly Free Clinic

Liam glances up at just the right time, and notices Jason's approach and steps forward, lashing out a punch. His defensive forcefield has an offensive use, as well; all the energy that would be delivered into the villain's hand is instead delivered out, with the rest of the blow, hopefully into Jason's face. He doesn't have any martial arts training, he's just punching out as hard as he can at Jason's face with his left fist. If that succeeds, Liam will try another punch, although this one will actually hurt- if the first landed, the field has temporarily overloaded and isn't working.

[bc56]

Nearly Free Clinic

Jason blocks the punch with his shield, but he still feels the blow. That'll leave a bruise for sure. The second attack, he knocks aside with his free hand; unlike Liam, he does have martial arts training. He follows it up with a jab at the would-be supervillain, stepping around him to strike at the kidney.

[Earl of Purple]

Nearly Free Clinic

Knocking the blow aside is probably a better idea than letting it land, yes. Might even be a better idea than punching back, since the forcefield Liam's using to defend himself redirects the energy of a landed blow back into the fist that landed it. From behind, Jason might notice that the battery powering the forcefield is not itself covered by the effect; the battery has been tinkered and generates a bit of heat, which is making part of the forcefield glow as it redirects the heat back out. That may seem an oversight, but a necessary one; the battery (actually more of a generator) wouldn't be able to vent if it was inside the field, and would slowly overheat.

The supervillain swings another punch at Jason, and then brings a knee up hard to try and kick the hero as well. He's still not very effective at fighting, however; the knee might be a surprise, but that's it.

[Shadowcaller]

[Tellysandra’s Manse]

"If your assistant would know how to do that I'd be impressed since as far as I know, I'm the only one that even employs these sort of thing at a larger scale. I'm not all-knowing of course, but I wouldn't be worried about getting demons in your computer just yet. Most warlocks are far more primitive, so by the time they start to realize the potential I'm sure ways of stopping them would have been invented. But right now? I don't know how your assistant would stop it besides stopping to use technology all-together." She waves her hand. "But whatever, let's watch the clip now." She clicks the remote again and the screen unpauses.

The four gnolls in the couch continues talking about a goblin celebrity called "LiXx" whose portrait is being shown on screen. Apparently they're going to have some kind of concert in the nation and there seem to be a lot of excitement over this fact.
Though she might also hear the sound of Tellysandra drumming her fingers against the arms of her seat in a rythmic fashion while leaning her head against her other arm as she watches.
"Now." She lifts her hand and casually gestures at the screen.

"...but speaking of rumors, Khareea. Have you heard that Adan Tusumi had an affair?" The tallest of the lady gnolls suddenly inquires.
"Adan?" A male gnoll that wasn't adressed inquires.
"Not the one you're thinking of." This is followed by laughter from the others as the two exchange a knowing glance.
"You're talking about the owner of Tsumi vehicles." "Khareea", who could be called the host of the show, clarifies as the others are still smiling widely at the joke.
"The late owner of it, since I think we all know who owns it now." Tellysandra's name isn't mentioned but a rather unflattering picture of her is being shown on screen.
"Oh yeah." The same male gnoll remarks with a laugh. "Her."
"Are you afraid that mentioning her name three times is going to summon her?" The other male gnoll who so far haven't spoken up remarks.
This is followed by more laughter.
"Okay, okay, I guess I'm a tad bit afraid." More laughs. "But according to the rumor, Tellysandra Tusumi might actually not be a Tusumi at all, or rather the wrong part of one." Suddenly the video freezes as Telly presses the pause button.

"Funny, isn't it?" She remarks in a tone that gives Anri no hint of her actual feelings towards it. "Completely untrue of course, but very funny."

[Tempest Row Spaceport]

"Can you deal with the man behind the gun, the gunner?" Minerva murmurs back, which probably should answers Zee's other questions. "I'll deal with everyone else. I am going to claim this transport in His name."

[bc56]

Nearly Free Clinic

Jason twists away from the punch and kick and tries to circle around Liam to get a good angle on the battery. He knows better than to shoot mysterious gadgets, so he'll have to get in close to target it.

[Deathkeeper]

[Tellysandra’s Manse]

Anri rolls her eyes at the screen, a gesture she is thankfully still capable of performing.
”I detest tabloid journalism. They make their lives shoving their noses in the business of others that they should have no business in. Now...probably not enough to sic a demon through the Net on someone but perhaps that’s why I’m a librarian. Though I suppose I’m not- never mind.”
Not that she’s exactly innocent when it comes to slapping people with curses.
”So this was the cause. You have a demonstration of the...result, to show me I assume?”