| Ice and Steel | |||||
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| What: Stormwatch and their alies have found Cyberdata's sounce of technology and the place they have held Void captive. A crashed spaceship in Greenland. This is the final battle. | |||||
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Right here, Greenland looks anything but green. This north, and in the late Fall, it is all white and also all pretty dark. The heroes of the story along with a couple experts from Halo, had to drive a tracked snowmobile for most of the ‘day’. Then walk alone few miles on ice and snow at minus twenty degrees Celsius. Even with the advanced polar outfits they have been given, it has not been pleasant. But according to the data they obtained in Japon, the spaceship that was the source of Cyberdata advanced technology is here, hidden from satellites by a holographic shield. Indeed, this close Rachel and Nate can feel a psy-static field interfering with their telepathic scanning. It seems to be a couple miles ahead.
Maybe the ancients had a sense of irony. Lunair is not a fan of all this cold. She really isn't. And she's one of the few with no brain powers. Except having a brain. but it's a start. Still, she's not thrilled by the cold. She follows the other two, looking around. "This - seems like a weird place to crash, I guess."
"You take me to the nicest places." Rachel's attempt to sound sarcastic is probably lost because she needs to yell to be sure that Nate can hear her, but she's pretty sure he can pick up on the sentiment. She hadn't realized that she'd been signing up to go hiking on an ice sheet when she accompanied him to Japan for their earlier adventure.
Despite her words, she's probably suffering less than the others are - a telekinetic shield is keeping the wind off, and allowing her to warm up the air around her to a temperature that's approaching tolerable. She looks over at Lunair when she speaks, about to comment, then frowns. "Reminds me of that movie, The Thing." She says, a bit unhappily. "I really shouldn't have watched that before this trip." She adds more quietly, then frowns a bit more deeply and looks into the distance. "We must be getting close. I can sense something - or I can sense something that doesn't want me to sense it, anyway."
“Yeah, they should have crashed in a tropical island.” Grumbles Nate. He is up to the gills with painkillers, but walking is still not fun with his torso bandaged. Only a few days ago Cyberdata’s assassin Killjoy came within an inch of killing him. He should be resting.
But he is dying, and if he waits a few more days, he might not be able to come here at all. “Right, and the ‘Thing’ is called the Kraken. It is some kind of insane super-cyborg with psychic powers. Cyberdata used it to capture Void, so it is going to be pretty dangerous. Watch out for monsters, Ray.”
A few more steps and the landscape flickers. Suddenly they are inside the holo-field, and Cyberdata installation is on sight. The alien ship, crashed a hundred years ago, is covered of ice and snow, but it has the size of a modern air-craft carrier, so it remains an impressive sight despite the huge holes in its metallic ‘hide’. Around the front of the ship there is a camp. Several structures of metal and plastic, surrounded by watchtowers, brightly illuminated. A couple armored men, maybe robots, can be seen patrolling the perimeter. They are armed with oversized rifles. Perhaps energy weapons.
Oh, those tropical island bases. Poor Nate. Lunair is worried about him. And all those injuries. She looks around, watching as she follows. Kraken. She wonders if there's a giant mech squid? but that makes no sense for a super-cyborg. She is lost in thought as they follow. And then the landscape flickers. Her eyes widen a bit. "Oh wow." She goes quiet, noticing the armored figures. She looks to Nate and to Rachel. "... are they robots?" She asks quietly. "And ooh, the Thing..." She shivers, remembering that movie, too. All alone in the cold.
... picking them off ...
Rachel knows that Nate wouldn't want her fussing over him - or more likely, kicking his butt for getting himself beaten up again - so the sarcasm he's getting from her is really the best of three bad options, although his feelings may differ. She wrinkles her nose when he does nothing to dispel the bad feeling she's getting from their surroundings. "You're not making it any better." She says in an aggrieved tone, but he should be able to feel the thread of amusement in her mind when she says the words.
Rachel stops complaining and concentrates on the task at hand as soon as they cross the edge of whatever was hiding this massive ship from view. Well, aside from breathing a quick, "...and neither is seeing that." It IS undeniably huge, alien and intimidating. Even as she's speaking, though, she's reaching out with her mind toward the sentries. If she finds any living minds, she'll attempt to hide their presence from them. "Finding out." Rachel assures Lunair, then smiles darkly as the other woman gets her earlier reference. "Yeah, let's try to keep eachother in sight, hey?"
“Oh, please... any of us would have kicked the ‘Thing’s’ butt while blindfolded.” Nate just can’t take horror movies seriously. He brings up binoculars to see the armored figures better, and then reaches with his mind to... oh, Rachel is there. She lets her go, she is better at the Jedi tricks.
The good news is that they are human, not robots. The bad news is they are heavily shielded from psionics. So are the buildings, but Rachel can feel maybe a dozen more people there, and another dozen inside the alien ship. It is hard to scan them; everybody is wearing a lot of psychic protection.
Oh... not everyone. There is something inside the ship that is not wearing psychic protection but surrounded by psychic dampeners. “That must be Void,” notes Nate. “We got to free her. And blow up this spaceship.” The second part seems difficult, they didn’t bring explosives.
Jade and Hawkgirl are fashionably late. The popular ones always are ... Or rather, the ones that don't necessarily have cold-weather gear on hand are. And while Hawkgirl doesn't need much cold weather gear, thanks to her Nth Metal Wings, she still has some. You just never know when your wings might be ripped off of you, after all.
"Sorry." Hawkgirl says to Jade, once she's all decked out in a warmer version of her costume. "I don't have too many warm variations of my costume." And for her cold weather costume, all it really does is cover her arms and her stomach, along with heavier gloves to protect her hands. "If you're ready, I'm ready." She says, since Jade has the faster flying ability than herself.
When the green aura surrounds them and the two are speeding on their way to the Artic, Hawkgirl can't help but smirk. "I like the way you travel. Definitely less windshear than with my wings and much less tiring, as well." Now it's just sit back, or rather stand back, and relax as the two speed their way to help back up Nate, Ray and Lunair. Already in Kendra's hand is her handy spike-headed mace, ready for action.
Why can't these things be done in the middle of the Bahamas, with gorgeous men in skimpy clothing, warm sun, and blue waters? Huh? Why does it always have to be in the worst place imaginable. Can't bad guys learn better? For Jenny - the idea of bundling up meant wool longjohns, beneath uber warm clothes, beneath parkas. Costumes? Too tight, Jade has little desire to look like she's packed on the pounds, by wearing a spandex suit over longjohns, and heavy clothing. As it is, she still feels like a penguin, round and waddling. "Hey, no worries." Is Jen's comment to Kendra, a wry grin to the green woman's features. "I'm not even going to bother."
Oh sure, Jen's powers keep the cold out, but what if they're removed? Or what if something happens that negates them? Preparation is key! As soon as Kendra and Jenny are ready, a large green jet surrounds both of them, as Jenny pours on the coal, and the sleek green construct zooms off towards the north.
"There is something pretty awesome about being able to create whatever is in the imagination." Jenny admits to Kendra, turning another wry expression of amusement towards Hawkgirl. It doesn't take long to make it towards the location that Kendra was given, and even though the 'jet' has the 'heat' on, Jenny shivers anyway. It's too damn cold looking outside.
One problem bringing a large green 'jet plane' is that it has a large radar signature. Nate has been in touch with Kendra, he has heard of Jade (through Rachel) but he had no idea they were going to do /that/.
So much for stealth. "Next time," he grumbles, "we all get a jet and land on top of the ship." With a bit of luck, it will be a tropical island. They should have some luck one of these days, right?
Land to air missiles are fired to the green jet from hidden hatches on the fallen ship hull. The only good news is they are Earth tech, not alien super-missiles. Meanwhile the armored guards are moving. Obviously alerted. A couple more appear from the living structures. "Lunair, can you take them out from here?" Asks Nate. "Can you make some kind of quiet sniper rifle. I don't think we have been seen yet, but Hawkgirl and Jade definitely have!"
Rachel's eyes narrow to slits as she feels something get between her and the armoured guards' minds. "That's cheating." She says under her breath, unhappy that their opponents seem prepared for them. She can sense their minds, but whatever tech they're using is blunting her telepathic intrusion. She frowns, brows drawing together, as she attempts to get past the shielding...
...and then the alien ships' anti-air defences open up, and Rachel jerks back a step, snapped out of her intense concentration. She's not sure she was getting anywhere, in any case. "Wait, what?" She says, head turning as she catches Nate's complaining. "If you're saying that was an option and you made us walk /anyway/..." Rachel mock-threatens, stifling a grin even though this really isn't the time!
"I'll keep them looking upwards, Nate. You and Lunair take the guards and get inside. Yell if you need me." And with that, Rachel takes off, running as fast as she can away from Nate. She needs to get some separation before she does what she's about to do, because it's going to be eye-catching! As she runs, Rachel reaches out toward the jet and the familiar minds inside. << Glad you could join us! Jink! >> And with that hurried instruction, Rachel seems to catch fire, launching herself into the sky on a pillar of telekinetic flame. Her plan is simple. She intercepts a couple of those missiles telekinetically, rips off their control fins, and then flings them right back at the launchers they came from!
While Jenny may be able to call herself many things, powerhouse, pseudo Green Lantern, smurf lover, Guardian of the Galaxy (new title) sexy green skinned chick, stealthy is not among the listed things Jade could easily add in. As the ground erupts into missiles being sent spiraling her way, Jenny's attention shifts towards Kendra. "Huh. Look at that, they're sending out the greeting committee. Hold on." Making two targets, versus one giant one seems the most logical thing to do at this moment, as the 'jet' dissipates into twin bubbles one surrounding Hawkgirl, another Jade.
For Kendra's sake, the bubble will - or at least /should/ absorb a great deal of energy before being disrupted, and will move with the girl where ever she goes, as easily as the winged warrior needs. For Jade - making herself less of a huge target, and far more of a maneuverable one is key. Sweeping, diving, moving, and then Rachel's there taking out a couple of those missiles as easily as you please. << Hey, Rachel. Good to hear, listen, next time we meet up, I'd prefer shopping, clubbing, maybe a double date with some gorgeous hunk twins, or hey, triplets. >>
As a missile zooms towards Jade, a green hand smacks it to one side, sending the weapon spiraling off into the snow and ice and whatever else it lands on.
"Hey can you make a hatch that I can drop out of? I can take some of those missiles for a run for their money?" And as soon as she says that particular statement the jet reforms into two green bubbles. "Huh. This is cool. I can work with this. Thanks! Stay safe!" And with that said, Hawkgirl will snap her wings open and zip towards some of those nefarious looking missles heading their way.
Of course, just as she was deciding just what to do with them, Rachel flexes her mighty telekentic muscles and rises upward like the Phoenix that she is, and flings the missiles she was aiming for back towards the shooters. "Dammit!" Kendra exclaims and then she's yelling towards Rachel, "You stole the ones I was going for!"
Yes, sadly, Hawkgirl doesn't realize how dangerous this situation really is.
Nate runs. Cursing for the umpteen time the loss of his telekinesis. The armored guards open fire with plasma blasters, most of them on Rachel, because she is the closest. But Lunair starts sniping, and the first cyborg goes down despite the heavy armor. That makes them seek cover, they head towards the alien ship.
The caught missiles explode, rocking the huge ship. But although the missile launchers are totaled, the explosions barely make a scratch in the hull of the alien craft. Apparently much tougher than even battleship armor.
<< I don't think there are more than a score of them in the whole ship. But... so much interference. >> transmits Nate. Those are few guard compared with what Cyberdate could have deployed. So why are they ready against their telepathy?
Rachel's so busy redirecting those missiles that she almost gets tagged by plasma fire, but she calls a telekinetic shield into existence at the last moment. It's not quite as strong as it could be, and would have been if she'd had a second longer, so while the incoming fire splatters off the shield and keeps Rachel safe, she's still blown backwards through the air a few feet, and feels the feedback right in her brain.
Gritting her teeth, Rachel spies the guards who fired on her - just as Lunair takes the first one out. To make sure they don't start looking in a direction Rachel doesn't want them to, she gives them a little incentive to keep looking at /her/ - a telekinetic bolt spears downward and lifts another armoured figure off his feet, blasting him back most satisfyingly.
Kendra's yell gets a laugh from Rachel, the other woman's indignant tone impossible to ignore. "You can have the next lot, I promise!" Rachel tells her, then double takes when she sees her surrounded by a ball of green force. "Don't tell me that's your usual look?" She calls, voice rich with amusement despite the ongoing battle. Someone who wears the green aura rather better is Jade, and Rachel's mind's reaching out for her before she's even finished calling to Kendra, << You and me both. Blame my brother. >> And speaking of her brother...
Rachel widens her mental network to include everyone, so they can share Nate's update. << Got it. Stay safe. I'm going to see if I can make another way in. >> Rachel's eyes flit from Kendra to Jade. << Coming with me? >> She asks, before taking off at speed toward the wrecked launchers. Her theory is, if they were recessed inside the hull, maybe they can get in that way.
Safe, for the moment, Jade's gaze takes in the small amount of damage Rachel's exploding missiles did to the strong hold, or alien craft, or whatever the hell that thing is down there. At the very least, the missile launchers are destroyed, a small consolation, at the very least. Rachel's voice, and Kendra's can barely be heard over the roar of the wind, the shots being fired, and the protective bubble surrounding Jenny. Still, she does pick up enough to offer a quipped. "Green's so in this time of year. Best time of the year for me, I blend in to the buildings, and can totally wear as much red as I want."
Raising her hand into the air, a giant, enormous twelve feet all, pointed ear, 'elf' plops itself down into the snow, stomping towards the figures on the ground still shooting. Yeah, it's going to get completely totalled, but it's a damn good distraction for whatever Rachel has in mind.
As Rachel takes off towards the wrecked launches, Jenny's picking up speed to join in. << Oh hell yes, they offered such a nice hello, I think we should return the favor. >>
At Rachel's summons, Hawkgirl nods sharply, "On my way." One day she will get this telepathy thing figured out, but for now she answers to the air, figuring the telepaths will pick her thoughts up and transmit as she needs too.
Her wings will tuck slightly inward to increase her speed, as Hawkgirl angles to join Rachel. It's as she's swooping towards Rachel, that the green elf will be seen. "Good god!" Exclaims the winged woman, "That has to be confusing to them!"
Grinning the winged woman aligns her flight with Rachel's and heads towards the alien ship. This is her first real good look at it and look she does, trying to figure the thing out. When Jade is close enough, Hawkgirl will add, "Thanks for the green bubble. Loving it."
The missile launcher were built indeed on holes on the ship’s hull. Or maybe hatches. There is a way in for Rachel and Kendra, although it is quite far from the one at ground level Nate and Lunair will have to use. Down there, the guards open fire against the green construct. But another falls to Lunair’s sniping, so the last survivor runs into the ship. Nate chases after him.
Rachel can tell from Kendra's reaction to the mental contact that the winged woman is a novice at this sort of thing. Rachel doesn't have time to ease her into it, sadly, but at least she doesn't balk completely. It doesn't matter that she answers out loud, either - Rachel can skim her reply from her surface thoughts with ease whether she's in earshot or not. Rachel's about to put her plan - such as it is - into action when she, too, see's Jade's enormous - and very festive - construct heading towards the remaining guards. << I would NEVER have thought of that! >> Rachel sends to the others, genuinely impressed - and from the half-heard mental laughter that accompanies her words, she finds the whole thing hilarious too!
Descending to the hull of the ship, Rachel's booted feet drop lightly to the metal surface as she approaches one of the missile launchers. It's twisted metal scrap, now - but all that matters is that it's jammed the hatch it emerged from open. Rachel stretches out ahead of her with her mind, frowning as she fills the others in << They've got psi-shielding. I can't guarantee there's no-one waiting for us. Be ready to move in three... two... >> And then Rachel telekinetically rips the wreckage out of the way, opening a ragged hole for the others to drop through into the crashed ship.
The giant green elf is swiftly turned into slag, though with the two on the ground's expert work, there is only one left to go dashing into the craft. The elf disappears as easily as it appeared, leaving Jade's gaze to flicker towards the lone figure making a mad dash to the interior of the alien craft - after the retreating form. He has to be on their side, right? Hell, who /is/ on their side and who isn't!? Jen's simply not sure. She can only hope Rachel and Kendra have the answers.
As Rachel lands on the craft, it gives Jade enough time to catch up to Kendra and her, answering Kendra as she does. "Anytime, they're great for protection of all sorts, as well as useful for tumbling down snow covered hills without getting all wet."
And then - well, Jenny doesn't have much time to say anything else, waiting and trying to prepare herself for whatever may happen next.
Hawkgirl isn't far behind Rachel and with light steps, she too lands on the ship. At Rachel's words, the winged woman says, "No worries. It's why we brought the big guns today." Her mace is lifted into a defensive position, as she waits for Rachel to do her thing. When Jade joins, Kendra is quick to give her a quick smile.
When the hull is ripped up and off, Hawkgirl is quick to drop through the opening. Her wings and costume help to cushion the drop, as she lands in a semi-crouched position.
Quickly, she looks around herself, looking for any signs of danger.
Lunair is going to follow Nate into the ship. Sniping is what she do. She moves pretty quickly when motivated, despite her armor and all. She looks to the others, quietly watching as she can. But yes, she is indeed following as Lunas are wont to do. But she's alert. Entering anything is pretty perilous.
For a second it doesn’t seem to be anything but an empty control room when the debris of the launcher s taken out. For Jade and Hawkgirl, at last. But Rachel can see the big cyborg there, made invisible by a psychic veil that doesn’t quite make it past her shields.
A second later, the cyborg shots her with a tremendous force blast. Easily as strong as the best she (or her brother) could create. Psychotron is an explosive telekinetic, one of Cyberdata’s strongest mutants.
And at the same time, Kendra’s mind is touched by a telepath and she finds herself full of insane, irrational hatred against Jade. << Hit her with the mace. Break her head >>
At ground level, Nate gestures Lunair so the young woman follows him into the ship. Following the last of the guards outside. There is hallway, somewhat weirdly inclined, leading deeper. The ship didn’t crash land straight.
Rachel tosses the wrecked missile emplacement over the side of the ship as Kendra and Jade drop through the hole ahead of her. That done, she follows them in, her telekinesis a faint, fiery outline as she lowers herself after them. A flicker, that's all the warning she gets. She sees something that's trying to convince her brain isn't there at all. She draws breath to yell a warning, and throws up a telekinetic shield - and only the shield gets there in time. Rachel's blasted right back out of the hole she made, her telekinetic shield shattering as she disappears over the edge of the ship's hull. Her head is spinning, she can't concentrate to call on her telekinesis and arrest her fall, but she knows if she doesn't get it together soon...
...well, it's a long way to fall.
"All cl -" Begins Kendra, before the cyborg reveals himself. "Or not!" Exclaims the winged woman, but before she can do anything her movements stop for a split second.
What's that? At the edge of her mind? At first she just looks confused, but then Kendra's features twist into rage. At first, perhaps Jade will think it's rage for the enemies, but in a moment or two Jade will realize it's directed at her.
"Kill you!" Shouts Kendra, even as she raises her mace and then lundges for Jade. Yes, she's trying to bash the green woman's head inward, with that spiked mace of hers. The mace made of Nth metal, which can absorb forms of energy, even magical energies at times. "Die!"
There was a moment when Jenny - as she landed into the alien craft - was going to simply say, "Quiet so far." When the words that were going to echo out of her lips faded into, "Qua-at the hell..." For no reason what so ever, at least to Jade's eyes, Rachel suddenly gets hit. The powerful blow sends the red-head blasting straight out of the alien craft. Jade's response is to immediately go after Rachel, after all, the girl didn't look much in control - and the figure that appears, if it can send RACHEL careening off, Jade has a feeling that all three are going to be needed to help with it.
But Jen's stopped with Kendra's fairly rage filled attack. That powerful mace hits the wall of the ship, not seconds away from Jenny's mad dive to one side. Tumbling to one side, taking note of two things. One, the thing that hit Rachel is still there, and two, Kendra's possessed, or just REALLY ANGRY at Jenny, thus, there really is only a couple things Jade can do at this moment, and fleeing with just her own life seems a bit rude.
As the mace hits the wall with the powerful blow, and Jenny's tumbling to one side in a very unathletic sprawl, a huge fist erupts from Jen's palm, crashing into Hawkgirl's jaw. "Nothing like the classics. Lets take this outside, Kendy."
Whether or not Kendra gets knocked senseless by the blow, considering she's still wrapped in Jade's bubble, it gives Jenny a bit more of an opportunity to send her flying out of the hole created by Rachel (a couple times over). Jenny's swift to follow, blasting out of the craft with all due haste and speed. Regroup. That's the key. Right?
Nate is not even seeing what is going on when he feels Rachel getting hit. And at the same time Kendra's mind is invaded. Then he remembers Forge used to say something about not splitting a team. Particularly not splitting the team when going into enemy territory.
Nate is a terrible bad strategist. Pretty much the opposite to his father. But he is good improvising. "Luni, bring Ray here before she hits the ground. She is going to..." Hell. Too slow. He just send Rachel's coordinates (quickly shifting) into Lunair's mind so she can use her funky 'portal gun'.
Then he reaches for Kendra's mind and 'shoves' the other telepath out. << I am going to find you... >> he threatens. All he gets back is a giggle, and Misery, the telepath, shuts down Kendra's mind as she leaves, pushing the winged woman into a coma.
Psychotron, meanwhile, jumps out of the ship, chasing after Jade. "Come back and fight, greenie! HAhaha!" A blast after another is sent to the young hero. Psychotron is a bit cray, but he does pack a lot of punch.
Lunair does in fact, have a portal gun. She looks to Nate, nodding. She will do her best to quickly bring Rachel over to them. One portal by her, one by them. Really, Lunair is no strategist, but she is good at following orders. She keeps her portal gun and a large rifle around in case something she can or needs to shoot comes within visual range.
Rachel's still falling, still accelerating, and that snowing ground is getting closer and closer - and then she drops through Lunair's portal and instantaneously reappears beside the woman, gouging a trench in the snow with the speed of her arrival, finally fetching up against a wall of the compacted white stuff once all her falling speed has been absorbed. To her credit, Rachel's on her feet insanely quickly, but it's nothing more than an automatic, instinctive reaction not to stay on her back while she's in danger. She sways, stumbles, and falls back to one knee, squeezing her eyes shut and just forcing her head to stop spinning, forcing her lungs to start pulling in the air that was just knocked out of her.
It takes a few seconds, but Rachel's soon scrambling up again, this time looking a good deal steadier. She looks around, still a bit wild-eyed, and her gaze lights on Lunair. "Thanks." She tells her. "I didn't want to go splat." Her eyes track quickly over to Nate, but he's still looking no worse than he did when they started this thing, so Rachel looks away again, hunting with her mind, her expression darkening as she only finds Jade. "That guy is NOT going to like Round Two." She states grimly, clearly about to blast back into the fray beside Jade, unless Nate stops her.
Having no idea what is going on mentally, Jenny's mostly dodging for her life right now, trying to avoid the blasts that are coming her way. "Y'know, I think I'll pass, and that's MISS Greenie to you!" It's only as Kendra goes completely limp in Jade's bubble, that Jenny tightens her control over the winged warrior. The bubble gently, and swiftly lowers Kendra towards the ground, as Jade said, protection from the snow will help, and those metal wings will keep Kendra warm, as well.
Jade's had pretty much enough of the dodging, she has no idea what happened to Rachel, at this point, but this guy is going to see why she's a backup Green Lantern.
From her palm, a glow of green will be the first warning, followed by six pointed ear 'elves', all with guns, appearing before the figure, firing green energy at him - non-stop. Jenny's eyes narrow to slits, it isn't going to be enough to stop him, but hopefully it'll be enough of a distraction to let Rachel's brother, and the sniper a chance to do what they need to do -- and who knows, maybe Rachel will get in as well.
"Wait, wait," Nate is certainly going to stop Rachel. Or try to. "Forget that guy, Ray. I will take care of him. Find the telepath. She is hiding from me, but she is a mutant, like all these cyborgs. Her name is Misery. Go!"
Misery is trying to get into Jade's mind now. But this time Nate is watching and struggling to block her. And Psychotron is blasting green elves to nothingness with great joy. At least someone here is having fun. His mind is well-shielded, of course, like everybody here. So Nate's 'take care of him' is not going to happen until he can get closer.
When Nate reaches for Rachel, just for a moment, he'll find her impossible to shift. Despite the damage he's taken, he's still physically stronger than her, so if he's not pulling her back, she must be using her telekinesis - and she's about a second away from tearing out of his grip and hurling herself after Psychotron when his words penetrate her anger at having been taken down and her concern for her two new friends. Those words hit her like the shock of a bucket of icy water being emptied over her hear, extinguishing her fire and freezing her momentarily in place. Then the shock wears off and she shakes herself free of Nate's grip, taking a step away before swinging around to face him.
There's anger in her eyes, of course, but there's hurt, too, born from the knowledge that he knows exactly what he's asking her to do and did it anyway, made it a terse command, not a request. And damn it all, some deep buried part of her /wants/ to obey. She knows it needs to be done. She knows she's the one who can do it. But she still hates it.
"All right, damn it. All right. But you'd better keep everyone else alive, Nate, or none of this has been worth it." This is his fight, after all, and just for this one moment, she's not quite as invested in it as he is. Little brother or not. Without another word, Rachel turns and pushes herself into flight, the red-gold aura of her telekinesis flaring into life around her. But she's not heading for the sky - she's heading into the ship, reaching out telepathically, letting her ingrained skills and talents guide her to the mutant inside the crashed starship.
And Heaven help anyone who gets in her way.
Having no idea that someone is not only protecting her mind, but another is attempting to get /into/ it, Jade's focused completely upon the pscyho that is blasting her elves as quickly as she can make them. Right, plan 'a' isn't working, it's time to go for plan 'b'. Plan 'b' usually consists of 'what would Hal do'? First, he wouldn't be scared, or intimidated, nor would he be holding back as much as Jenny is. So, with that bolstering of her courage, Jade does what she imagines the greatest of the Green Lanterns would do.
And suddenly just as one 'elf' is destroyed, a barrage of fists go careening towards the Psychotron man. One, after another, after another, after another. /If/ any of the fists connect, they will strike with the force of a semi-truck. Jade doesn't stop with just one or two, she continues to send one after another towards Psychotron, attempting to hit the bad-guy figure with repeated and constant unending pounding. "Eat your heart out Hal Jordan." Is Jade's battle cry, which isn't to say that it's the greatest battle cry ever, but considering her thoughts right now, it's the best she's got. Well, that and the concern for Kendra, and Rachel, Nate and Lunair of course. After all, she's being delayed out here with this jerk, when she has no idea what has happened to Rachel, and Jenny's worried she may not even be helping. It fuels her hatred, and her anger, and her powers, as the blows get even more fierce and powerful.
Nate’s left eye is glowing brightly, and he chases after Rachel trying to ignore how much his chest is hurting. And his head too, throbbing with power. But it is almost over, almost.
Rachel navigates through a maze of psychic defenses. Very strange maze, because it almost feels it is built the wrong way, to keep something from leaving instead of preventing them from
going in. There is an intelligence controlling all those mechanisms, it is not an automatic system.
Outside, Psychotron keeps blasting. Even when Jade goes into the offense, the big cyborg stands his ground and keeps launching huge force blasts, almost berserk. But he is missing, because Nate is getting into his head and throwing his aim off. Then he takes the first punch, and staggers. Still, too tough to fall easily, he keeps lashes all around him, tearing at the ice and even managing to leave gashes of ripped metal in the near-indestructible ship’s armor.
Poor Nate. Lunair is worried about the guy. But with Psychotron blasting, elves getting owned and everything going on (poor Rachel), there's not much time for Lunair to think. She does seem sympathetic and worried. "He seems furious," She remarks. The robot gets punched (cyborg? Sounds a bit complex at times), but he's still up and tearing around at things. Lunair is following along behind Nate, keeping away anything that might need sniping and quietly looking after the others.
Rachel's running away from a fight she should be in, running away from a friend who needs her help. It makes her angry. She can feel Nate running after her, feel his pain, and despite her displeasure with him for forcing this role upon her, that makes her angry too. And behind the anger, hidden by it where she doesn't have to admit to it, she's afraid, too. Afraid because she can't feel Kendra's mind. Afraid because Jade /should/ be able to rely on her to have her back. Afraid because despite everything she's said to Nate, she has no idea at all how to fix him. But as she reaches into the past, calling up her neglected but never forgotten - impossible to forget - mutant-hunting skills, as she gives herself, no matter how reluctantly, to the Hound programming that still lurks in the depths of her psyche, the fire of her anger and the ice of her fear seem to become remote, as if they're being experienced by someone else.
Rachel is the hunter. Rachel is the Hound. And the Hound never loses a target.
It's hard to fly at any speed within the confines of the crashed ship, but even so Rachel is outpacing Nate. Physical defences - and defenders - that get in her way are swatted aside, almost automatically. Psionic blind alleys that are set up to divert her are assessed within moments and discarded, Rachel unerringly choosing the correct path. Closing in, all the time.
No one can be that inaccurate, well, maybe Stormtroopers, but this guy? His inaccuracy is on the epic lines of those fictional characters. Considering Rachel's a telepath, and with that knowledge, perhaps family members are as well, Jade is theorizing pretty quick she's getting some extra help here, either through the red-head, or her brother. << Who ever is giving the help, thank you! And if that's you, Rachel, I owe you a cold beer, and a sloppy kiss. Seriously. >> She attempts to broadcast her thoughts out there, like she does with her twin brother, and hopefully someone will get it, if not, well, Jenny's scrunched up face and wrinkled nose as she concentrates should be priceless to look at. Still, Jenny means what she says! Especially given the damage the whacko is doing to the alien ship! She can't begin to imagine what one of those would do to /her/.
She remains on the offense, continuing to pound the fists towards Psychotron with more and more weight behind them. The near berserk state the thing is in, might help Jade's cause or - it could really suck to be her soon enough. Thankfully, however, Jenny can pound the snot out of someone from a very long distance away, and so Jenny's doing just that, sticking clear of the radius of power, and continuing her barrage of fists.
Three times small groups of cyborg mutants with heavy armor and weapons (but negligible powers) try to stop the group. They get swatted aside easily by Rachel TK and Lunair’s precise shots. Then they are in a ‘live’ portion of the alien ship. The metal almost seems alive. There are some people here, but they are scientists and engineers, and they are hiding from the super-powered intruders. They are all very afraid.
Finally, they reach the heart of the alien ship. The chamber is large and dark, and metal cables hang from the ceiling, pulsing with dull light. There is pit of oil-like substance at the bottom, and a glowing glass chamber near the top. Inside the glass the gleams the silver form of a tall woman in skin-tight armor. This is Void, Stormwatch’s alien cybergoddess. She seems unconscious.
The telepathic dampeners are not pointing to Void, though, they are pointing to the pit. Rachel has a second to notice before Misery strikes, jumping from the shadows and trying to hit her psychically and physically. Comparatively speaking, she hits harder in the physical world, but that is to be expected from a cyborg. Telepathically speaking, she is pretty strong, but not as strong as Rachel. "Can't believe you found me," growls the woman. Another redheaded telepath, of course! "You idiot girl. You should leave yesterday."
On top of the ship Psychotron is taking a good beating. He manages to shatter some of the fists attacking him, but others hit him. And his blasts are still off mark. Finally, after a solid hit to his face, the big cyborg goes down.
Lunair is watching over people, a bit startled. Poor peoples. She follows the group in, wincing. "Uhm." Huh. Why are so many redheads telepaths? It is truly a mystery. Lunair, for her part, doesn't contemplate it too much. To her, telepaths are terrifying. She has no protection against them, and the idea of having her brain melted or something is kinda scary. A lot scary, really.
But she has to stay calm to take good aim. There's one thing most folks can't handle and that's the ole 50 calibre to the face. She exchanges her weapon, finding a nice place to kneel. She keeps her breath steady, one eye narrowing a little through a scope. Life through the crosshairs seems so far away, so painfully impersonal. It is a goal. To end before one is ended. Simple, animal logic.
And so Lunair fires at Misery, ignoring the feud and threat. And the robot got punched out.
Rachel feels the fear from the non-combatants and a disinterested portion of her mind discards them as threats. They're ignored unless they get in her way, and if they do? They get swatted too. Rachel's reached a state where the hunt is all-consuming. She's not going to slow down now. Not for the wonders of living metal, and not for the comfort of her opponents' support staff. She blows through the labs and corridors like a red-gold thunderbolt, trailing destruction in her wake. Following the mental scent of her quarry, the sense of her growing steadily clearer the closer Rachel gets. She smiles, the satisfied smile of a creature that has succeeded in its allotted task, and it's a smile that doesn't look at home on Rachel's face.
Rachel flies into the open chamber, the telekinetic fire around her sending monstrous shadows dancing across the walls and floor around her. For a moment, the presence of the psi-dampeners confuse even her finely-honed senses, and she casts around, seeking her prey... and then her prey comes to her. As before, Rachel senses her enemy too late to get the first strike in, but unlike before, this time she's drawn deep on her psionic powers, holding that strength within her, waiting to lash out. So while Misery cannons into her, sending Rachel reeling back across the chamber - her telekinetic shields absorb the worst of the blow, and as for her mind? Misery's attack slams headlong into the focused, all-consuming programming of the Hound within Rachel. It cracks, but holds together. "I find everyone." Rachel tells the other telepath, a darkness in her tone, and strikes back. A blast of telekinesis, striving to smash Misery away from her and pin her against a wall, even as she tries to slam a telepathic box around Misery's mind, leaving her locked inside her own head. The enemy is strong. It's time to find out just how strong she is.
And then, like a voice barely heard, something seeps into Rachel's active mind, from those portions of her psyche the Hound programming had pushed aside, through the cracks made by Misery's assault. She feels Nate's mind, the echo of his pain. Lunair, close, her fear and focus. And further away, perhaps because a part of Rachel is still worried for her, still wishing to be fighting at her side, Jade.
Telling her she owes her a sloppy kiss. Rachel blinks, and comes back to herself. And her lip curls as she slams the Hound back into the shadows of her mind, disgusted at how close she came to losing herself to it. Not again. Never again.
Victory!! Watching as Psychotron goes down, Jade can't help but let out a whoop of noise from her throat. And then, she proceeds to dive down towards where she left the unconscious body of Hawkgirl. Whatever is going on inside, Rachel, her brother and Lunair can fix it. Making sure Kendra's okay --- and not mad at Jade? That's a bit important right now. Flitting down to the snow, Jenny flops down onto her rump, right there besides the still green-bubbled Hawkgirl. Exhaustion and relief etched into her face. "A nice nap sounds good about now."
Misery is a skilled telepath with ten years of experience being a manipulator and assassin. On top of that her cybernetics make her far stronger and faster than a normal woman.
That is what she believes. She is wrong. Because real Misery died years ago.
Rachel telekinetic attack is avoided gracefully. Her telepathic strike is not as much blocked as defected with an elegant counter-move that would make impress even Xavier or Emma Frost. Nate is going to arrive in seconds, so she lounges for Rachel again, a psychic knife forming from her right hand. She completely ignores Lunair, thinking she can keep a cloak of psychic invisibility from the gunslinger.
She is wrong. Lunair bullets hit her chest three times, and then her head. The cyborg falls back against the wall, crumpling like a doll. Metal circuitry sparkles from her chest. She bleeds coolant fluids and motor oil and from her shattered skull, glass and plastic: a braincage keeping just parts of a human brain. "W-what is this... no... it can be. I am... my body!" She turns to Lunair, slowly, "you saw me. How? No! The Kraken. The Kraken deceive me. Bewarrsssskkkrrrs."
Yes, the Kraken. Kimata feared it would be here, right? The Kraken was the monster that did the impossible: capture Void. And the Kraken was what the psychic maze was keeping caged. Misery being just the head jailer. But the cage is now broken.
The Kraken arises from the pit. She is nine feet tall. Black metal and dark light, hair like tentacles. Threatening in the physical plane, she is a thousand times worse in the psychic aether. Her psychic scream is deafening. As far as New York it hits telepaths like Xavier or Jean Grey like a hammer. << FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE >>
Hawkgirl has been down for most of the battle, thanks to a little mental possession and then of course, Jade's attack and finally the induced telepathic coma. And while she would have likely slept even more of the battle away, that psychic scream causes her to react.
Immediately Hawkgirl's eyes open and she claps her hands to the side of her head. "Ahh!"
She really needs to work on some sort of defenses against these psychic attacks, or in this case psychic scream. When she can gather her wits about her, the winged woman finally staggers to her feet. "What the hell happened?" She asks in a more rhetorical manner, even as she reaches for her fallen mace. Scooping it up, Hawkgirl will immediately lift into the air. "What's going on?" She'll ask, hoping one of the telepaths hear her.
It's possible that Rachel snapped back to herself at the worst possible moment, since Misery just avoided or parried the worst that Rachel's darker side could throw at her... but fortunately Rachel has Lunair to back her up and blast the cyborg away from her. Still hovering in midair, Rachel twists around, finding Lunair and grinning down at her - even though her eyes still seem shadowed. "Thanks!" She calls to her, at the same time reaching out for Jade, her relief that the other woman is all right clear across the temporary link she forges between their minds. << That cold beer sounds great, but no kiss on a first date! >> Rachel sounds relieved and concerned all at once. << What about... >> Kendra, she was going to ask.
But then she sees what climbing from the pit, and a moment later her brain is on fire. Rachel's scream joins the Kraken's psionic one, and she falls, the telekinetic fire around her winking out, leaving her to thud painfully to the ground. For a moment it's all blackness as her brain threatens to shut down, but she forces her way up again, the sudden reappearance of Kendra's psyche giving her added strength.
She finds herself on her hands and knees, blood streaming from her nose. With an effort, she forces herself to look up, forces her eyes to focus on the Kraken, and ignores the starburst pain inside her skull when she hammers a telekinetic blast into it.
Pause. Holy noodles. Lunair is content to stay out of Rachel's way and out of the way of the smitings in general. Still, she seems surprised that the woman is hit so hard by her bullets. "Um. Yup, I can see you," She nods in the affirmative. This is a bit confusing, all of it to her. "That seems bad." Free? She's not naked and blue at least, but there's definitely alarm. "I feel kind of bad for her in a way. But in another."" In another, she's totally trying to shiv Rachel and that's no good. She watches to see what is going on with this Kraken thing and there's a worried look.
Nate just got in the chamber to ‘hear’ the psychic scream. And to see Rachel fall. “Ray! What the hell?!” The Kraken climbs off the pit and looms over him. Rachel telekinetic attack barely makes the monster falter an instant. Most of the force seems to be absorbed by the black metal skin, and it only makes the monster hungry. Turning, she takes a step towards Rachel.
But then Nate attacks, the glow from his left eye so bright it seems to consume half of the young man’s head. The psychic assaults makes the Kraken scream again, the Astral Plane shakes when the psychic forces clash. But the Kraken, God-Machine of alien design, remains standing, and charges Nate, slamming him against the wall. The metal tentacles of her head reaching to dig into his head, to transform him into a being akin to herself.
But Nate was already burning with uncontainable psychic power. He was going to die today. So much power not even the God-Machine can contain. Rachel and Lunair have a few heartbeats, as Nate’s golden glow becomes unbearably bright, and then explodes outwards with the force of a nuclear explosion. Kraken absorbs an enormous amount of energy, and then overloads. The shockwave cracks the huge starship in two. And everything becomes glowing white for everyone for a few seconds.
Hawkgirl will immediately see Jade coming for her, and the winged woman will quickly head towards the green-skinned woman. "What's going on? One minute I remember us jumping into the ship and then - nothing." Well, except for the psychic scream, but Hawkgirl will leave that alone.
And just as Jade was about to fill Hawkgirl in on the situation, the world goes even crazier. The ship cracks into two and Hawkgirl turns her attention towards it. "What in the - " And then, her words fall silent as the world goes white.
White glow. Maybe this is death. If feels cold, it tastes lime metal. Then the glow fades, and everyone is in the War Room of the Halo building. The silvery armored woman, Void, is kneeling, eyes closed and arms extended towards the heroes. Rachel is unconscious, bleeding from nose and ears. Likewise, Jade seems to have been knocked out, although why it is not obvious. Nate is more than unconscious, he is a mess, with an obvious bleeding injury in his left temple and his clothes half burned and torn.
Void opens her eyes, but there is nothing but white in them. “Why is this place so quiet?” She asks, her voice clear but leaving a metallic vibration behind. Computer consoles come to light, all electronics activating simultaneously at her mental command. A few seconds pass as she catches up with what has happened in the past few months. Then she stands. “I am Void. An honor to meet you,” she announces/greets to Lunair and Kendra. “I will take the injured ones to the medbay. Feel free to join me.” She vanishes in a flash of light, taking Nate, Jade and Rachel with her.