Coile

I'll prod the mooner on Silent Tempest forums. He shoots the breeze there when able.

(( Written by Nightsparrow ))

Today among the headlines there are several about how Aria a.k.a. Keening Banshee was found by a Subaiku, a member of the Silent Tempest, in half dead condition. She was immediately hospitalized in Independence Port hospital and transfered to a ward for magical and transdimensional beings.

Her condition is serious and it seems that she suffered severe injuries as a result of an attack. Unfortunately true extent of her injuries are not easy to discern because all technology malfunctioned around her or is giving erroneous and impossible readings as literally having butterflies in her belly or that she is actually made of sponge (second readings showed that she is a woolly mammoth with forest instead of internal organs after which the hospital gave up on medical scans). Several magical healers were called to assist in the treatment.

The Militia was immediately and fully informed about this.

Intervention

You’re looking beat but you say: ”no, oh, no, no
I’m all messed up and I’m ready to go!"
- The Ark

It was late at night when Andre visited his home once more. Awaiting was his wife Melanie who unceremonously handed him a stack of papers and asked if Andre might want to sign them. Divorce papers. Andre tossed them away with some scorn. That night things never once got better from there.

After some shouting, snapping, accusations of drug usage and Andre being in general an insufferable [censored] Mel laid out three options. The first was to talk and offer a damn good explanation to the crappy way Andre had been treating her and in fact everyone else. The second was to get out of the house. The third was a somewhat more physical approach and Mel made it clear that only one of them would be left standing, perhaps alive as well.

A few words later Andre lied on the floor, arm bent in a lock and almost dislocated, forehead split open and bleeding. A few more insults from the man and well-placed hits by the woman later Mel dragged unconscious and beaten Andre to a guest bedroom and tied him up in a very professional manner. When he came to Andre proceeded to continue laying out the facts, like how he preferred Nadia to Melanie any day and offered a few hints about what really took place between him and Nadia in the other dimension.

Melanie had already gathered that something was more wrong than just Andre getting disillusioned and she called to Mesoc, the only Silent Tempest member available at the time. Then the bondage boy started to suffer from some rather violent seizures which sort of ate away the rest of his credibility about 'being alright'.

When Mesoc arrived he got his share from the man Mel had dubbed 'Andrevil', starting from his darker shade for a skin colour and continuing about his tenure as a leader of Tempest. At the same price Andre also expressed his less appreciative views on some other Tempest members calling them with names that Paragon Inquirer would have paid king's ransom for to hear about.

During the talks it had become evident that Andre was less disillusioned with Tempest and more or less hated them all straight, everyone except Subaiku. This made Mel quite suspicious and she instructed Mesoc to discuss the situation with Tempest but not letting Subaiku know that something was up, or that Andre had been secured. Also his weird requests to get to 'his suit' in order to help with his seizures were noted. Mel thought it equally possible that Grinning Nightmare had gotten to Andre than that Subaiku was messing with his mind.

Ropes were not an optimal way of holding anyone as being tied tight was bad for circulation. A straightjacket and cuffed ankles worked far better. A webcam for observation and unpredictable checkups made sure the captive stayed put until Xan and Love Angel came to pay a visit. Both were quite shocked about the way their friend and leader was being treated and Andre did his very best to convince that he was held there against his will for no good reason at all. And didn't use his previous death threats because it would have been counterproductive.

Instead he offered a theory that Melanie had stolen him away from Nadia only to get pregnant and was now holding him only because she knew that he would walk away, and possibly return to Nadia. However using expletives and the coldness seeping occasionally into facial expression as well as into the words made Xan suspicious and Angel scared. They were not going to just let Andre go as requested. Instead Xan insisted on taking a blood sample so that he could prove to Melanie that there was no drug usage and no reason to hold him there at all.

In the end, after a phone conference with Sword of Truth, it was decided to keep Andre where he was and not move him into Tempest base, much to his dismay. It would have been far easier for Subaiku to spring him free from there than from the penthouse. Being just a tad disappointed he voiced his opinions about useless friends and especially of Nadia whom he accused of betraying him, kicking him out of Tempest and otherwise being just a useless, selfish woman whose sacrifices in his behalf were worth nothing. Love Angel had not switched the phone off after the negotiations so Nadia got the words straight without middlemen.

During one of the seizures Xan took a blood sample even without a permission justifying it by the graveness of the situation. He proceeded to analyze the sample after Angel had left in tears, appalled by Andre's inexcusable behaviour. Through all the nastiness Andre maintained that these were his honest opinions about all the people he had once called friends, now he just had no reasons to hide them.

Melanie was a betrayer for telling Zirgei about Andre killing Nadia's clone. She was also a trickster for having stolen Andre from Nadia. Nadia on the other hand was an untrustworthy backstabbing fiend, Mesoc an usurper, Diana useless gutless friend, and among all the faulty, worthless ex-friends Subaiku stood tall and proud in Andre's mind, a true paragon of trust and friendship.

Meanwhile the mysterious, reclusive founding member of the Silent tempest had dreamwalked in Andre's mind and noticed troublesome alterations to how things had been during previous visits. She set out to conduct her own investigations, first about the battlesuit that Andre had been using for two weeks with the name A-Struck and then about his influential co-worker Mitch who was bound to know interesting details.

Elsewhere Xan's results from the samples were confirmed by an extensive analysis by Jane Bright - Andre was using several drugs in dangerous amounts, some of them affecting in how his body coped with the new form of combat that the suit offered and some affecting his mind. Also Subaiku had gotten a whiff, so to say, and smelled that Andre was being affected by some odorless gasous compounds from his suit. Mitch shed some needed light on the origins of the suit as well as his professional relation to Andre, and to a group that went by the name Hand of Andros.

It seemed that someone was out to get Andre, had manipulated him giving up the hero license, provided the suit and technical experts to get the A-Struck project going, had manipulated Tempest into seemingly kicking Andre out and feeding him drugs to some fiendish ends. The question was, how unwittingly was Andre involved in all this? Was he possibly acting out of his free will, after all? The other interesting question was all the hurtful spite that Andre had flung at anyone within earshot. Was it just some evil aspect talking, or were the words really his opinions, either subconscious or known?

As things were Andre would not be around to answer any more questions. He had figured a way to leave. After Dustine had taught him to whisper his wishes to the wind in order to contact her it had not required a great deal of intelligence (evidently, as Andre had thought of it) to try to use the same system for similar beings. Keening Banshee, known to her friends as Aria, was a fairy and had occasionally come to Andre's aid when called. Now he whispered to her, asked her to free himself from an unjust captivity.

And then he was on Talos Island, far away from his home in Founders' Falls. While Aria was freeing him from the shackles still binding him Andre briefly reflected on the amazement that Xan must have when his subject just blinked out of existence before his very eyes, and the rage of Melanie when the man she had tried so fiercely to protect found a way to escape. Then he was free!

He still needed his suit and Aria was his best shot at transportation. The kind woman who was worried over the health of her Lord Coile was more than willing to get Andre to Independence Port and to the suit that would save his life. Once there a more than mild shock was awaiting - the suit was gone. Beside himself and his flimsy facade of a man in need of help slipping he uncovered a second battlesuit, unmodified to bear his colours and insignia. Andre put the suit on but was left to discover that this other suit did not grant him with the feeling of intensity that the original did. This was of course due to the other suit being the only one equipped to dispense the powerful drugs.

Andre who now with the suit was A-Struck was aware of Aria's ability to interfere with his work, especially after his escape would spread the word how he was supposed to be a dangerous lunatic now. Such slander! He should maybe kill them all, but first serve Aria a stern warning not to cross his path again. When it began to dawn on the exiled fairy royalty that she had been entangled with something monstrous and foul indeed she sought to correct her mistake. That in itself was a mistake. Her status was upped from a possible nuisance to a genuine threat and the fight to settle the score then and there commenced.

Maybe Aria was used to how Coile would move in battle. However Coile and his mutant powers were long gone and Andre had acquired this incredible suit that made him an effective fighter in close quarters. Two well placed kicks downed Aria before she wished herself to be behind the metallic suit and used both forcefields and her enigmatic voice to throw her opponent off-balance. Andre tried to change tactics and feigning a broken arm to lure the compassionate woman closer. However there was no fooling her twice and slowly Andre got up.

Then all of a sudden he activated the rocket motors in his boots and catching Aria quite offguard rammed her straight at the wall. This knocked her almost out and she was unable to prevent it when the steely fingers closed around her throat and tightened the grip to squeeze the life out of her for good. At the last moment however the familiar repulsion towards taking a life emerged and the would-be-murderer jolted up. Shaken beyond reason Andre rushed out and vanished into the night leaving his trashed and still mortally wounded rescuer to lie helplessly on the floor.

Now he is out there, somewhere, mad as a crazed goblin on withdrawal. Are you sleeping safe and sound?

Just to mention, we lost our channel again yesterday, and at least one mate logged in to see her global changed automatically and with a blank global list. The problem might be only as fresh as 24 hours, although I would be inclided to blame the month ago crash too.

Scrollback

"Fall across the sky into the fear.
Cold star flies by, now we're here."
- Tarot

The pursuit of Crown has started. Red Hand D provided information about a location in Hollows where the low profile mystic cult Silver Crescent was after a powerful scroll. They would bring Crown forces with them as soldiers and this was enough to propel certain people into action. When the shadows grew longer in the decimated zone under constant struggle between various criminal elements Subaiku and a new hero called A-Struck met on a roof of a house and after ascertaining the location entered a building.

There they met Corvus Corone who was working for PPD and his interests were in getting possible bystanders out of a hot zone. As introductions were made a fourth person appeared, bearing only the name Nick. His main goal was to bust up Council troops that were the dominant force inside the large office building. In truth the insidious Night's Child was also after the scroll.

The place belonged to IP Speed Cargo, a transportation company that had been tasked with delivering the scroll out of city. That same scroll had been under the threat of capture already once in an auction house but the efforts of A-Struck and Phonos foiled the plans. Now there was a second attempt and it was perhaps possible to engage Crown troops directly. Prisoners meant information.

Enemies fell left and right as the quartet waded their way through the cannon fodder. One cargo company guard knew that two of his co-workers were still held somewhere and as the group advanced further into the offices in search of the remaining hostages everyone kept their eyes open for a suitably sized crate. Finally all civilian people who were in the house against their wishes had been liberated and the Council's Archon been taken captive.

While Nick interrogated the Council main man with constricting shadow tentacles A-Struck and Subaiku attended to another man that had been present. A badly beaten prisoner of Council's that belonged to another group. Crown. He didn't want to talk at first but Subaiku's ability to instill fear into the man's mind and dreams proved to be a powerful enough persuasion. He didn't know about Ripmind but the scroll had fallen into the hands of Crown already. However he knew where the strike team was headed. This was enough.

Corvus Corone was left to deal with the present situation while the rest three headed into a cave structure in Hollows. It seemed to be a Tsoo hideout and even after all the opposing forces had been quelled there was no sign of Crown anywhere. Not until a hidden door beneath a flimsy sheet of rock was discovered. A-Struck dug the door to view but the job of getting through of it was handled by Nick with his ominous, corroding darkness.

Behind the door was a jackpot. A crown safe house inside Paragon City. The regular gun toting goons fell swiftly enough but two super-powered operatives proved to be a tougher case. With their support waning mook by mook the end was inevitable. A-Struck and Subaiku were content to take Tigerstrike and Monsoon captives to be interrogated and Nick found the scroll. Even share, all agreed.

In a secret location somewhere in Independence Port the next morning came and with it the bleak reality for the two men who had remained cuffed throughout the night. They were faced with Subaiku who put the fear of death into them and Andre who seemed to be willing to make one of them an example of a messy demise just to persuade the other one to talk, if necessary. Luckily there was no need to find out if it was a convincing bluff or a real threat as Subaiku enhanced Andre's words with some apt feeling of doom.

The men ended up telling everything there was to tell that they knew about. List of full operatives, as they themselves were only on the rise, locations, times, plans. Not nearly everything to form a concise picture of Crown but a command structure nonetheless and enough details to plan further offensives on. Then there came the point of what to do with them, after their usefulness expired. Letting them go would have meant releasing criminals and also letting Crown on that they had been compromised. Turning them over to authoroties would have blown the secrecy open as well. Detaining them in a warehouse, two super-powered indivuals, was not feasible. Quite a dilemma. The result: both men vanished without a further trace.

Later on Andre gave a few orders for the future. For one they needed everything that was put on file about Crown in Silent Tempest databases, and they needed money in order to oprerate. Red Hand D wasn't working out of the goodness of his heart. Subaiku was left to go into Tempest base to gather the data and sometime soon she and A-Struck would start confiscating valuables belonging to criminals whom they would encounter during their strikes against Crown, and others.

There'd be a few paragraphs to write about Andre's mental, emotional and physical condition but I'm not going to. Instead I'll tie them into a nice ball and fling towards a hig hspeed fan. Estimated time of impact: tonight.

I wish to publicly praise Ammon for his initiative and creativity. Well done! Not nearly everyone knows how to do something like this.

Kudos, man!

Time passes. Now it seems redundant to recap anything to do with Coile being held captive by EVIL or the Tempest virus even if the repercussions echo still.

After those events Coile has been very much on his own, with minimal contact to others. And I'm not quite sure what to write out about his whereabouts to retain IC surprises, and what can be told. Then again, I have included some crucial bits into a few stories that I have written meanwhile which makes utter secrecy more or less stupid, and also makes me being hidden from global friends needed less. So, I figure I can recap something but also leave some aspects vague. It's good to keep people guessing.

Raise what's left of the flag for me

"Hell says hello, well it's time to I should go
To pastures green, that I've yet to see
Hurry back to me, my wild calling
It's been the Worst Day Since Yesterday"
- Flogging Molly

Right after returning from the other dimension Coile was captured by EVIL. After they let him go he ended up in a quarantine until it was clear that he didn't have the Tempest virus either. Finally back in the normal life the first thing to do was to go to his wife who was, to put it mildly, ticked off by Coile having vanished for three weeks without much word. Things were patched up, for the moment, after a long discussion.

In addition to Melanie also some people in Tempest were angry and displeased about Coile and his way of doing things. Disrespect was the word Mesoc used to describe the situation. On the edge from all the stress Coile didn't react well to Bone Fire Havoc seeking asylum within Tempest while the man could not guarantee not taking innocent lives purposefully in his quest for revenge. The situation deteriorated and lead Bone Fire Havoc walking out much to the dismay of others who did not regard Coile as reasonable. Even Sword of Truth who had been the main reason of Coile taking his current stance altered her opinion to let Bone Fire Havoc stay, to be watched.

After the meeting Mesoc read Coile the riot act making the leader feeling quite unwanted and uncertain of his fitness to lead the team. While he maybe hoped for encouragement the only thing he got from Sword and Love Angel was the truth. Their recommendation was for Coile to take a month off. He agreed, seeing it as the only viable course of action.

This also made him feel rejected by the whole team. Maybe once upon a time he could have been more sensible about it but the deaths in Tempest, the deteriorating personal relationships to other Tempest members and the rather taxing exile in a hostile world made the bald emo kid too gloomy for his own good. After learning that Bone Fire Havoc had been murdered after leaving the base and been told in advance by some Tempest members that the blood would be in his hands if something happened he felt gutted and guilty, and decided not to make contact with Tempest. Meanwhile Melanie persuaded Andre to invite his dad over for a visit.

Being on his own Andre started to think about his life and goals. One thing that he had wanted to do for long but just somehow had failed to do with Tempest was go after Crown. Allying himself with Subaiku, the longest surviving comrade-in-arms from the very beginning he tranferred inside Hero Corps from counceling to intelligence division and started making real work towards bringing Crown down. A few days later also his co-worker 'Mitch' tranferred from counceling to intel.

One day Freedom Corp made a contact and asked if they could revoke Andre's hero license since he had lost his powers. Without much thinking, as is his way, Andre told them to go ahead. This lead to him being removed from Tempest roster and since the matter was cleared with Sword, it was marked as her order. The true reasons for this are in a powerplay inside a mysterious group called Hand of Andros in which Andre's father belongs. Who knows, maybe he even started it, a long time ago? In any case Andre saw the other love of his life stabbing him in the back, quite unexpectedly.

The wedge between Andre and the rest of the Tempest grew wider just as he stumbled into something interesting and useful. New means of carrying on with his work. Back home things were growing worse and the distrust between Andre and Melanie seemed to be on the rise, which initially prevented Andre from sharing the discovery with the woman he was supposed to spend the rest of his life with. Then a huge rift occurred when Melanie told Zirgei something that Andre considered to be a big secret and this directly lead Andre from telling Melanie nothing about his current schemes. The situation remains and the two haven't talked in ages.

On the Crown front things are moving and Andre has been visiting Rogue Isles in his cunning guise of Captain Carmine of Cardinal Force. He has also been visiting a [censored] bar a lot, and being on a blind date with a bunny man called Red Hand D. The less said, the better. However now the real intel channel about Crown affairs is open.

With his new means of offense Andre enlisted back into Octavo, his secretive Omega task force that has some insidious ideas about how to solve the Rikti problem. He did this knowing how badly he had been screwed by Octavo in the past. The motives for this can be a dedication to the goal or a lust for revenge. Who's to say?

After a talk with Melanie Zirgei has come to a conclusion that there is something seriously wrong with Andre. Either the giuy is not his son at all and has been replaced by something else along the way, or his mind has been tampered with. Whatever the case it caused Zirgei to distance himself from the man who claims to be his son and this set a malicious plan on a fast track. A small cabal inside Hand of Andros has now decided to move with their own plans and possibly start a war within the group of the rogue scientists. One pawn in this game is son of Zirgei, who is the leading force of the opposite faction.

As things now stand Andre is quite separated from almost all support that he previously had and is poised to take a sharp fall in the near future. Whether or not that is the final chapter of his tale remains to be seen.

Honestly, I can't yet see how it turns out. Maybe Andre patches things up with Tempest and returns as a leader. Maybe he is locked up in a lab someplace. Maybe he becomes a brainwashed assassin. Maybe he dies. Whatever the outcome I'll ride the high wave until the end and have a blast.

Apropos, and this is with the grain of salt about whether or not the tale comes to a sordid end within the next two weeks, I might be interested fleshing out my two NPC groups. Both Octavo (the militaristic superteam of weirdoes who all share a deep hatred towards the Rikti) and Hand of Andros (a collective of sharp minded immoral scientists within which a constant struggle for power is taking place) could become more interesting if even a few of the characters were directed by other players than me.

However, both groups have a strickly defined purpose and already introduced characters, so any of them would require going along with pre-set guidelines. This might be less exciting than it looks. Also, I am not quite certain if this is a good idea to begin with, so it might happen that I withdraw the idea. Also, as a GM of the said groups I should be OOC aware of most dealings that the characters engage in.

With those parameters, would anyone be interested? If so, reply on the Union Banter thread or send a PM, and we'll see if anything happens.

Relevant stories that set at least a part of the background can be found on Tempest forum in Shards of A thread, a few posts down from the top. The tales are: Face of evil, Need to know, Octavo, Riftwork, Back in the fold and Andre of Andros.

Now that the work has been mentioned here on Creative it is, I believe, eligible for nominations once the month turns over again.

[ QUOTE ]
Did I miss anything?

[/ QUOTE ]

Every time you drive by a McDonalds Jester Will Know.

Soylent green is people. McBurgers is people who pee'd off Dark Clowns.

I had a blast. So did Coile. And he was in a sharing mood.

Thanks for the invite. Badges and good company is always nice. If I'm available when it's Moon's time to do the TF, I'm happy to tag along again.

Winter snatched the pad and got out her pen. "Sure, girlfriend. Enough of useless heroes with useless statues around. A few I know are good, the rest can go behind a dumpster to be indecent with goats for all I care."

Signed: Winter Heart (|)

Signed: Andre Kraft

Should we throw next Sat a "Clown is gone" party in PD? Especially since Jester had only one character that could have attended it in the first place.

Something that not many have paid much mind though - WHERE did the clown go? Now there is some secret, magic location in the world where the freakiest clown that ever lived eternally is raising an army of immortal, dark clowns.

Don't know about you, but it makes me scared of the dark.

...and sort of tickles a writer's bone, to scrape together a brief scene about it all...

"Yeah I'm bloody hurtin'! I was dealin' some narcs with dis customer, goes by name Red Hands, and suddenly dis fishbowlhead guy comes startin' gettin' all tough guy onna us. Says he's Captain freakin' Carmine from Cardinal freakin' Force and wants a word with dis customer. I tell him da go play with his moustache.

Den me mate tries da sneak up onna him, knife and all, and den dis Carmine just turns fast and kicks me mate right inna chest, sends him offa roof and smack down da ground three stories below.

Den I reckon I blow him off with me piece and den this shadow just comes outta nowhere, hissin' and den I get all air beaten outta me. Cracked five ribs dem docs say. Me mate's even worse off.

And guess if we ever see dis customer again. Damn Cardinal freakin' Force."

- as told by Gidi Shanks in Mercy Island infirmary in the morning and in Pocket D later tonight

Oh man! That would have been something I wanted to see!

Next time EVIL is settling scores be sure to sell tickets!

[ QUOTE ]
Tempest legion? :]

[/ QUOTE ]

Nah, Silent Tempest. Tho the section in question is hidden from unsuspecting world due to the content. Clowns hugging is not for everyone.

As for the Tempest legion, I seem to be in the wrong Tempest!

Jest my man, what can I say? Well, hang around on Tempest forums, you have your very own section dedicated to your and Inny's goofiness.

It was a pleasure and honour to meet you. Even if I missed the high noon of Cirque I'll still look up to it as an inspiration in quality.

Safe trails.

I refrained from recaps while the dimensional trip was on-going as not to give too many OOC hints about what was going on. As far as anyone knew Sword and Coile were either busy dying fighting against a superior foe, or just taking it easy and living a life of new-found love. Afterwards I considered recaping it all but the task was sort of intimidating. Now, FaeryFire did one take on it and I got excited about some of the stuff that happened and felt like, omg, writing.

So, here's my limited view. Not intended to cover all, and as per usual some IC bias.

Note: the damages taken were results from dice rolls. A personal matter of taste to keep unpredictability in the events. As can be seen from the severity of the wounds we were pretty unlucky.

Oh, and if you would rather piece the events together IC, it's not wise to read further.

Ashdor rising

"It's hard, cause my spirit is willing
But my flesh is weak
We are living in a brave new world"
- Heavenly: Wasted Time

An ordinary evening in Pocket D. Nadia (Sword of Truth) was talking with Aria (Keening Banshee) about Grinning Nightmare who seemed to be an integral part in if Nightsparrow was to avoid the almost certain life sentence. Nearby Andre (Coile) was sharing with Mesoc his uneasiness about Kitalia and her connection to the same 'Grinni' that the other two were discussing. Aria was telling about how Grinni had influenced Nightsparrow's decisions when she had chosen to take lives or use needlessly excessive force, and how she believed that anything Melanie still did was influenced by years-old her tormentor.

In other words any choice that Melanie had made was likely not her own. Coile realized that his marriage to Mel could well be just a months long deception, nothing more. He left Pocket D in a hurry. Two things were on his mind. First, Grinning Nightmare could find a way inside someone's head if they were in the blackest pit of their personal hell. So, he was in danger. Second, Requiem's men had taken Nadia into another dimension after her capture to hide her presence from any detection. Conclusion: it would be a good idea to hide from the dream grinner in another dimension.

All Andre wanted was a set of dimensional coordinates that he could use. Without much thinking he went to the conference room of Omega task force (also known as Octavo) and acquired a list of dimensions. Not being picky he took the first and off he went. The world was inhabited by robots that seemed rather aggressive but flying high was a safe bet for now. Time passed and the despair waned. However horrible the situation was it could be solved one way or the other. There was enough expertise to find out the truth. All he needed was to head back home and confront the situation.

Except the beacon detector drew a complete blank. There was no return portal. Nothing that he could do would conjure one up. Maybe there was some trouble? Yeh. Just sit tight, wait a bit and they'll fix whatever is wrong.

A day later Silent Tempest was gathering and there was no sign of Coile. No one had heard of him that day and Sword got worried. While she called around to various places and people, Andre's father Zirgei was visiting the base wanting to have a word with his son before returning to the robot far and in his absence resumed one of his favourite pasttimes. Well, two. Talking his son down and yanking Love Angel's chain. He succeeded in both quite well.

Meanwhile Sword had reached Omega's commander Morgan Bree and learned that Coile had made an unauthorized excursion to a dimension that had for undisclosed reasons after the original survey decreed to be dangerous. Under the circumstances a return portal was not possible because it would have to remain open for who knew how long until Coile got to it. A brief portal for a retrieval team was possible but the commander didn't want to use more than maximum one Omega member for this. Sword was volunteering. She declined to take a team with her.

The deal was simple. She would go through, but due to a lot of unknowns there would be no return portal until it was resonably certain that there was no immediate danger from opening one. She and Coile would need to do extensive scouting including but not limited to viral, radiation, technological, biological and tactical scans. Meson detectors would ascertain the presence or absence of native portal technology. And if there were Rikti present - the results would not be pretty.

Equipped to the teeth Sword of Truth crossed the dimensional barrier cutting her off from Silent Tempest and the rest of her life, and at the same time uniting her with the man who had left her for another woman.

Not before long Sword indeed found Coile, sullen and brooding and quite oblivious of the plight they were in. She explained the situation and Coile explained why he was there in the first place. His biggest worry seemed to be that what if Melanie's love had been a lie. A nice topic to share with the woman who had been dumped in the process. While they talked Nadia wrapped her cloak around Andre who was wearing a t-shirt and the temperature was dropping soon below water's freezing point.

Since scouting was what they needed to do that's what they engaged in. Very quickly the chase and tense fights began when the robots started to pay attention to them. At one point Nadia got knocked off the roof of a tall building and it was just the quick reflexes and a desperate plunge by Andre with his extendable flight field that prevented her hitting the pavement with lethal force. The fight never ceased until they noticed on one roof a gathering of robots with one different among them. A leader? A relay unit? One way to find out. After a brief but brutal skirmish the robot was rendered to a scrap heap. Andre's very limited skills in robot maintanance were barely enough to identify a few vital systems that they took with them.

The following days were alike. Constant combat, constant flight while looking for anything to be scanned and covering ground to other areas. It was not very dissimilar from the work they did in Paragon City except here the whole world was hostile and gave scarce respite from hardships. It began to take its toll.

Then things changed as they left the urban area and ventured in the rural area ever scouting and gathering data in the hopes that one day it would be enough. Near a circular crevice they came across beings that they first took to be inhabitants of the world. Later on Coile would reach the conclusion that they were just another group of robots. Mysterious hooded beings who shared the aggressiveness so predominant in this bleak world of ghost cities and ever present danger.

Slowly but surely they were advancing and taking readings that would get them home that much sooner when they came across of a being that proved to be exceptional in the forms of physical combat. Nadia had to concentrate so fiercely on evading his blows that an arrow escaped her notice. That proved fatal. Suddenly Nadia dropped to the ground which drew the attention of the fighter so completely that Coile managed to land one massive blow on him knocking him out of the action. He was about to share the jubilant news with Nadia when he realized that she was not moving. There was an arrow sticking out of her chest and there was sticky red stuff on her. Red stuff that was supposed to be inside.

His only medical skills were basic first aid but if he now messed up, Nadia would die and there was no one else to pull them out of the trouble. It was all up to him now. Andre removed the arrow and with stuff from first aid kit managed to get a pressure bandage on the gushing wound. Then he took her in his arms and flew back towards the city in a frantic search for a deserted hospital. Once there and in a surgery he did what he could. Clean the wound, sew it shut, apply more pressure to still the bleeding. Since the world was otherwise normal, just all humans yanked out six months before, there was enough supplies to last them a lifetime. Antibiotics to fight the possible infections and morphine to counter the pain. A drip to keep the fluids going.

Then there was the wait. Three days during which Andre mostly sat by the hospital bed and just waited. Waited for Nadia to live or die. He did brief scavenging runs to secure food and water supplies. And waited. Would he now lose Nadia completely, unable to do anything more for her while she withered away? He had never denied still loving her, even if he was married to Melanie now. But in the end she opened her eyes, weak as a just-born kitten. It was assessed that Nadia would need at least one week from that day before they would even attempt to leave the hospital. Alas, that was not to be.

While scouting the vast lab complexes beneath the hospital Andre came across advancing robot patrols. If they reached their destination they would discover Nadia who was completely helpless. Once more a fight on which life and death depended commenced. A relentless push drove the robots back ever deeper through the corridors and halls. Until a new monstrosity appeared. Realizing to be out of his depth Andre slipped past the leader unit and lead the rest of the present robot forces in a chase still deeper into the underground complexes until he saw a chance to break away. Blasting the support structures of the remote cavern he brought the ceiling down on the robots and made his escape. It was hours later that he returned to Nadia with grim news - their location had been compromised and they had to run despite Nadia's condition.

Back in Paragon City Love Angel was working her own brand of mischief with flimsy media campaigns and some successful hacking. The most notable result was a visit from Tina Bree, Omega commander's daughter who put out her best Woman in Black act and got Angel to tone it down. This bought a few days of silence but eventually as time passed there was a need for a new contact. Tina agreed to attend the Silent Tempest meeting to discuss the situation. She had only a little news. First of all some events had lead to the dimension in question to fall under a protocol 'lockdown gold'. Even if previously access there had been a possibility at the discretion of the commander, now it was an impossibility. No one got in or out. A second matter was that according to scan results and movement patterns something had happened and tactical unit had declared one of the two Omega agents to be killed in action. Either Coile or Sword had died. Tempest didn't take the news too well. It looked like something would happen rather sooner than later. Tina presented her own suggestion.

The only one who presently knew the coordinates to the dimension where Sword and Coile were stranded was her father. She would get the coords, but only if Tempest could present a plausible enough a plan as to how to get there and back. This excluded the usage of Portal Corp's assets but opened the game for any unauthorized portals that various groups had at their disposal. Tina left the group to discuss whether or not they could persuade Dj Zer0 to allow them to use one of his portals to a dimension that Portal Corp was sqeuamish about enough to prohibit all traffic to and from.

Back in the otherworld Coile and Sword had gone underground. Outside the windows gathering robot groups could be seen and Andre had suspected snipers. The corridors were presently empty until they reached a warehouse part of the structure, medical supplies in huge crates stored away for times of war. It was heavily guarded but seemed to remain as their only way out. Andre supported Nadia's movements with his flight field and played a dangerous game of hit and run tactics with the guards. On the other hand he could not keep Nadia with him or she would get collateral damage quite fast. On the other hand if she was too far behind she would be vulnerable to attacks from the back. There was no guaranteed safe distance.

Then it went wrong again. Coile was overwhelmed at one point and knocked out. However this time the droids were interested in if there were others nearby and found Nadia huddled against the wall behind a crate. When Andre came to again he found Nadia lying on the ground, visor struck in half, head almost bashed in, bleeding, partly delirious and crying. All he could do was offer a little comfort and go on. They finally got into a big storage hall with a door leading to outside. There was just one massive robot guarding the place, a clearly advanced model of the type that had been giving them trouble earlier. Now Coile would face it in combat all alone.

In sports people who give their best may not win but at least they know that they gave all that they had. For them it's just a matter of training more and trying even harder the next time. It's a case of having hope. In a fight that determines whether you and your companion live or die it is a cold comfort to give your best if you still in the end fail. If your best wasn't enough the game ends there. Instead of hope there is just hopelessness, doom and death.

Coile gave it nearly his all. Only thing he held back was removing the eyeplate that prevents him from overloading. He had a nasty feeling how it would end. What in his youth had been a nuisance and lack of fine control had now become quite possibly lethal. During his adult years he had only once unleashed his full power. It had been during the escape from Requiem's forces when he and Nadia had faced two full fledged Nicti. That fight had left him almost totally burned out. The only thing to return him to health had been the very blood of Mad Leprechaun that he was given. Since then he had removed his plate for two seconds just once because according to a deal Darksparrow would then show him her eyes. Those two seconds had been time enough for Coile to realize that the next full blast would no doubt cost him his life. Not an unreasonable sacrifice if it had gotten Nadia to safety but she was so frail that having to go on without Coile would have soon been the end of her as well.

When it was all over Coile lied on the dirty floor unmoving and the robot just walked away. Minutes or perhaps hours later Andre and Nadia stumbled out of the building and onto the street. Neither to this day has no clear recollection of how exactly they entered into an apartment nearby. With them they had the scanners, a little food, water and medicine. It was all haze. Time passed but it was impossible to say exactly how long. Just a day or several? Andre's long running headaches grew stronger and finally he just stopped moving and didn't open his eyes anymore.

Back in Paragon City Subaiku had been hard at work. Initially following Tina Bree to her home had enabled her to locate the dreams of the Omega agent and walk in them. Some time after she walked the dreams of Morgan Bree and gained the precious coordinates. All that she needed was a portal. The elusive and infamous Crown had a possession of at least one portal, a fact the Silent Tempest had learned months ago when Dark Rose had by chance found it and stepped to the other side where Crown was conducting terribly hazardous viral experiments. In the aftermath the lab in the other dimension had been emptied and the portal room relocated. Subaiku had kept her eye on them for months now and when the need was great could gouge out the portal location uninhibited by human restraints like morals, compassion for the enemy, respect for human rights or dislike for dispensing pain. Such matters don't bind a fairy-werecat-gypsy who can strike mortal terror in the hearts of those that cross her path.

When all was ready Subaiku let others know of her plan and executed it. Others could join her or follow later. Her leader was lost and in peril and she was going to act. A sneaky assault on a secret Crown portal facility followed and then Subaiku had crossed over. What she found was a heavily injured Sword and a comatose Coile. Her initial tasks included scavenging for more food, setting traps and tripwires and casting healing magic of her people. For certain reasons which will not be discussed the spells were quite far from the more potent ones that she could cast in better conditions. However Nadia started healing.

Andre was worse off. Subaiku entered his dreams and found out some kind of a loop or conflict that was causing damage. Not quite understanding what was going on she shut down things that were harming Coile and uopn returning from the dreams removed the eyeplate. It seemed as if it was damaged and instead of controlling the powers was now killing the man. Shutting down something that had to do with his powers would prevent overloads.

While Subaiku kept the surroundings safe, or rather by standing guard made sure no enemy was approaching, Nadia just lied in bed clutching to awfully still Andre. It seemed so unfair that he was likely dying. He had walked out, made his own decisions and built a new life. But if he died he was gone forever. So unfair. All that she could do was hug him and hope for the best.

On Tempest front things were cooking. Right after Dustine had explained a plan how they could use her goddess to locate the missing members Tina Bree made that plan obsolete by revealing a location of a portal under Arachnos control. The plan was for the tempest to seize it and use it while an Omega team would enter right after and retain the control only to reopen the portal one day later. Tempest members Mesoc, Dustine, Kitalia, Hand of Sorrow (Bart) and ShadowWoman (Marisol) went through and fought their way to the place where the others were holed up. Around that time Andre returned to consciousness as if there had been no death just a vreath away from claiming him. He was groggy and weak but alive and awake.

The return trip proved to be an ordeal as well. Andre and Nadia were able to move about but required assistance if they were to travel at length. It fell on Bart and Mari to support them. Subaiku and Mesoc took the point and were backed up by Dustine and Kitalia as they reaped a way through the robotic masses that confronted them along the way. Hours later they lost the pursuit and secured ground transportation in the form of a hijacked minibus.

Before returning to the expected portal site the scanners picked up a signal that was coming from close by. It was an abandoned TV station that was broadcasting a message, over and over. It was a warning and a plea for help. A scientist spoke to the world telling the reason of the deathly pandemia that had hit their world. The AI that served the whole planet by providing a central control mechanism for all the robots had deviced an insidious plan. It had developed or acquired a virus that was very lethal and quickly affecting. The virus had been given for the robots to carry and then unleashed on the human population at once world wide. The result had been total annihilation of all human life as far as any could see. Now the world belonged to the robots and ASHDOR, the AI that had vanquished its flesh and blood masters in one swift stroke.

Now there was a problem. If they returned home they could bring the virus with them. If they waited, the virus could finish them off and if not the virus, then probably the robots. Besides there was no telling if there ever would be more than this one assigned return portal. If they had the virus they could remain stationary and call for a medical team that would place them in isolation and hopefully come up with a cure in time.

Not a bad plan. If you disregard EVIL's involvement.

NEXT: The Tempest virus

"Hey, ya hear 'bout that biotch chica, Nightsparrow. Judge gives her freedom ta walk the streets like common people. She's a murderer, that's what she be's. As good as free now. That ain't justice, travestry that be's if ya ask me. I ain't feelin' safe no more. Broke me cousing back she did, last year."

- as said by Tommy Harelip in Pocket the in the early evening.

The officials have deemed the so called "Tempest virus" to be a non-threat. Is the situation really over? Not if you believe Leela Rin of Paragon Inquirer. Meanwhile citizens have taken it to themselves to act and there is no guarantee that the acts cease with just the official word.

Read all about it. The newest Nightsparrow's scrapbook as collected by Love Angel is now available.

(( Broadcasted at 7 am in the morning of 25.2.2007, then repeated every hour for the rest of the day. ))

* There is a man in his late thirties looking at a camera. Neat hairdo, reassuring smile. You've maybe seen him before. He has a suit on and stands relaxedly, genuinely so this time. No one is standing behind him as a background. *

"Good day. I am Roger Sholder, the public relations manager of Chiron Medical Center. I am pleased to announce that the threat of what has become known at the Tempest virus is over.

The capable personnel of Chiron Medical Center has successfully tested every single member of the team that traveled to another world and has not found any sign of a deadly virus infiltrating into our world.

Backed up by the extensive scientific expertise of some of the most prominent leaders in the field, among them Paragon City's celebrated hero Doctor Temporis, the team lead by doctor Jane Bright has concluded that it is a hundred percent certain that the contamination risk is over. There is no virus.

All Silent Tempest members have been let out of the isolation. The only one staying for further medical examination is the group's leader Coile. That examination has absolutely no connection to the once suspected virus.

The crisis is over."

There's a rumour circulating around the streets where people are most worried about the virus that the docs now let all the rest of the Silent Tempest guys loose. Yet there is no official word about the risk of contamination being over or even less.

What's going on? And Should people keep their distance from those guys? And if the officials aren't doing anything about it, should the citizens take the initiative? Damn diseased heroes infecting the normal folks.

That's what the street rabble says all round the place, anyway.

"It was the darnest thing I saw inaa while. I was minding my own business in Kings when this van pulled over near me and the backdoor was kicked open. I was waiting for a bank robber squad but they just threw out this bald guy. They guys who dunnit was wearing haz-mat gear, the three or five of 'em. Then they just drove off.

And get this, the guy who they tossed out, it was this bloke from the Inquirer, the robot lover. The leader of the gang who brought that super virus among us. Of course some others recognized him too, started screaming and all. The guy himself got the move on and vanished behind a corner.

You think I should go and get myself checked for this virus?

Hey, come back! I ain't bloody infected. Last time I buy you a drink!"

- as told by a street punk to a Skull raver in Pocket D, heroside ground floor bar late night of 24.2.2007

(( This thread is for IC rumours. A few tips and pointers.

1) Indicate where the rumour circulates. GG? Pocket D? Docks of St. Martial? ICON in Steel Canyon?

2) The rumour does not have to be true. It can even be completely false. Or just terribly misleading.

3) Make sure it makes sense that this rumour exists. If a discussion was held in complete privacy and no party spoke to outsiders, no one can talk about it. You can of course use NPCs to overhear stuff: peds, bartenders or just imaginary people. Just make sure that it suits everyone involved. You can't say someone walked by and heard about something if others think that no one came within earshot. If the rumour is not based on anything that happened ie. is complete bogus, it doesn't much matter where it originated from.

4) You can write rumours about other people than your own characters but be certain that you don't offend anyone. Either ask in advance to be sure, or have an understanding based on trust that it is alright to do so.

Have fun. ))

(( A television broadcast, sent on a quite a few stations. This takes place about half an hour after the initial announcement. ))

* There is a man in his late thirties looking at a camera. Neat hairdo, reassuring smile to the extent where it has to be a practiced expression. He has a suit on and stands relaxedly, pointedly so. Behind him there is a row of four persons with white coats. Two men, two women. Jane Bright is not among them. *

"Good day. I am Roger Sholder, the public relations manager of Chiron Medical Center. I would like to issue a few clarifications to the statement released earlier by doctor Jane Bright. We will also release certain informations in the interest of reassuring the public that the situation is under control.

As of now there are no confirmed cases of the virus being found. I repeat, so far we cannot confirm any related illness in our patients. It is possible that there is no contamination at all. Further analysis suggests that it is even likely that the plague never entered our world. There is no cause for undue panic.

We can confirm that all the patients in isolation belong to the group Silent Tempest. As of now it appears that they have not been infected, any of them."

* The smile stays but tension can be detected in his stance by those who have an eye for such thing. *

"However we would like three other members of that same group to check in at any medical facility for examination. They are Coile, Subaiku and Kitalia. Also anyone who has been in contact with them during tha last twenty four hours are asked to contact medical personel.

Meanwhile the brightest minds are concentrating their efforts to ascertain the absence of the virus. I hope we can soon announce that the virus never entered our world.

If you have questions there is a hotline number that you can call, or visit the relevant website."

* On screen is displayed a phone number 800-TEMPESTVIRUS and a web address www.tempestvirus.org *