Halorin

((Hey again, guys! The Prelude to Justice's latest storyline is getting to be really exciting and I thought I'd take the time to offer any readers a chance to enjoy the writing as much as I have. In our latest team storyline, Remembrance, the Prelude is hot on the trail of the people behind the theft of Jessica Sunderland's body. The chase brings two of the Prelude members, Halorin and Tempestra, to a laboratory in Peregrine Island in attempts to find answers. A routine sneak and peek quickly turns into a fight for their lives in this action-packed scene!

It's a hefty read, but I'm confident you will enjoy it! The rest of the story can be picked up here at: The Prelude to Justice: Remembrance

Enjoy!))

The sun scorched the sky a brilliant orange over Paragon City as it made its descent to flee from the oncoming evening. The shaded sunlight pierced through Halorin’s bedroom as he prepared himself for a rough night. He had spoken with Kiera earlier that day, and it was agreed that they would meet at night to check out the lab her search for information found. There was something odd about this, however…

He got this feeling at the most awkward of times, usually before something routine. He lowered his brow in determination as he pulled on the set of black tights he had made for times of stealth and infiltration. A one strap bandolier hooked over his right shoulder and under his left arm, clasping over the center of his torso. The numerous pouches contained small items and gadgets Halorin carried with him on heists and jobs he pulled in Cincinnati. The face paint was applied like a ritual, his eyes staring coldly at the reflection in the mirror. With a determined nod, he was ready.

Halorin landed atop the roof of the lab silently, unseen to the slow moving world around him. He looked across at the multitude of buildings and skyscrapers. Peregrine Island was a beautiful place. Such a shame for it to be marred by rampant crime. But that didn’t matter right now…

Kiera showed up on time, dressed for stealth combat. She gave him a smirk. “Looking good there, tough guy.”

Halorin narrowed his brow and checked the PDA screen on the back of his glove. “Le’s jes’ get in here.. See if we c’n get our answers, an’ get out.”

Kiera’s smirk faded fast. She could tell Halorin was nervous, or worried. After nodding slowly, she gestured for him to follow her. Kiera had taken the time to find out all of the floor plans for the lab, and found the easiest way to get in. A crawl through a ventilation shaft, and they’d be dropped down into the main hallway. Halorin hid his claustrophobia from her.

The ventilation shaft’s grate was silently removed, and Kiera slipped within first. Halorin took a last glance at the night sky before fitting himself inside as well. No turning back now, he thought to himself.

They crawled along the tight corridor, and if it weren’t for Halorin’s ability to cool his body, he’d be sweating bullets. It was a shame he wasn’t in a better mood, or else he’d have a few cracks to make to Kiera at the view he was given as they made their way to the entry point. Halorin could only imagine what Sean would be saying right now. Heh.

Halorin was lost in his own thoughts when he practically bumped into Kiera. They had made it to their destination. She glanced over her shoulder as best she could to give him an incredulous look, to which he put up a facade of a smirk. A playful shake of the head later, Kiera was undoing the screws to the grate that would gain them access to the main hallway of the facility.

Something seemed too easy about this…

Kiera’s soft gaze peered upside down at each end of the hallway, cooly scanning for anyone’s presence. She gave Halorin a military-style hand signal, to which he knew nothing of, before she pulled her lithe frame through the vent’s opening. Gracefully she rolled forward in air to land in perfect silence on her feet. With swift precision, she darted to press against a wall. The camera’s panning pattern was slow and easy to get around. It’d take a few minutes of nailing down the rhythm before Halorin also descended to the hallway floor and slipped out of the watchful gaze of security.

Two trained professionals, one from government duty and another from street smarts, traversed in agility down hallways and around corners. They ducked patrols and paced themselves, letting as little as possible of their actions be seen as they forged on. They gave each other a leveling gaze at the first sight of a Mortificator, carrying out a nondescript box of some sort. Two others followed, bringing a much longer box with them. Choosing not to strike, Kiera and Halorin let them pass.

No cameras were set in or around the lab area, nor were there any guards to patrol the area. Whatever was conducted here was not to be seen by many, if anyone but those directly involved. There was a security panel where a keycode was required for entry. It seemed too simple.

“I can handle this,” Kiera stated quietly as she walked over to the panel. From behind her Kevlar vest she procured a small device that looked like a PDA of some sort. It was amazing what could be done with a hacker’s mentality and Bluetooth technology. Halorin stood before the door, staring at the reinforced steel as if it was a threat. A frown curved his lips and his fingers curled and outstretched in repetitive sequence. Nervousness.

The locks hissed before the door slipped open. Kiera busied herself with returning the tools of her trade where they came from before Halorin slipped inside. Imagine his surprise to hear the door slam shut with a deafening force. His eyes flashed wide with shock and bewilderment. He could he Kiera’s pounding at the door and then the fumbling of her tools followed by frantic beeps from her device. Halorin brought his hand up to press the button of his comm..

“Kiera. What’s goin’ on.”

“I don’t know..! I don’t know.. Hang tight, tough guy.”

A chill ran down his spine, shaking him to the core. Dr. Vahzilok’s voice played over a loudspeaker from within the laboratory.

“Ah.. Mr. Halorin. I was expecting to see you again.”

Halorin stared at the metallic, sterile floor as Dr. Vahzilok continued.

“I hope you do not plan on getting in the way of science yet again. We remember what happened the last time you interfered with my work. I have a feeling however… That this will be our last encounter. I’m sorry I’m not able to make a personal appearance, but I’m confident that my representative will be more than glad to convey any humble message I may have had for you. As for your friend? Well… Some of my associates will be with her shortly.”

The taunting laughter of Dr. Vahzilok narrowed Halorin’s eyes and boiled his blood with anger.

“I, however, have much more pressing matters to attend to. Do take care of yourself, Mr. Halorin, for life is short. Death is a fate I’m afraid you’ve subjected yourself to.”

Silence. Deafening silence. After about thirty seconds, Halorin frantically sent a message through to Kiera. “Kiera. Get out of here. Now. Quick!”

“But-“

“No! Listen t’me… Vahzilok’s got this place locked tight. This had t’ve been a trap. Get to th’control room an’-”

Their connection was severed. Some sort of frequency jamming device ceased their conversation. Dr. Vahzilok’s voice come over the loudspeaker again.

“By the way, those jamming devices play absolute HELL with the city’s teleportation grid… I wouldn’t look to them for much help.”

Halorin yelled and screamed at the door, but to no avail. Soundproofed. He turned and scanned the lab area intently. Outside of the various machines and the operating table in the center of the room, there was no threat to be seen. A door in the back with a window beside it was another point of interest. He couldn't see what was inside from here. Suddenly, the plan Dr. Vahzilok had in mind became clear to Halorin.

A dull, booming roar echoed in what Halorin could only hope was the distance. However along the far wall a large metallic structure opened at its front, releasing chilled frost into the room temperature lab. Its right forehand was the first thing Halorin saw. Vahzilok’s creature stalked into the room with its head down. Those three claw marks still looked fresh against the creature’s face, grabbing Halorin’s attention as its head bucked upward. It snarled in anger at the scent picked up.

“HaaaallllllllooooOOOoooooooorrriinnnnnnnn….”

Casually Halorin pushed forward from the door, swallowing the thick lump back down his throat as he started walking toward the center of the room. There they were. Halorin and the beast, standing on opposite sides of the operating table that served as the lab’s centerpiece. They stared each other down. There was a strange history between these two. Both hunting each other, but also evading. A twisted game of Chess. Halorin couldn’t help but to feel he was staring one of Vahzilok’s pawns in his game in the face, or that he himself was on the board as well.

Slowly Halorin reached up with his hands to grab at the latch of his bandolier. He removed the strap in an unthreatening manner, setting it down to the table beside him. A quiet sigh betrayed his lips. He knew something was weird about tonight…

The otherwise dark laboratory was filled with pale moonlight, giving everything in the room a radiant light blue aura. There was an ominous, finalizing aura in the room, at least for Halorin. No help, no way to call for it. This was certainly high noon.

Errant stands of his hair wavered slowly, as if a light breeze was passing through the room. It was in his yellowish gaze that the first crackle of static was seen. Electricity began to appear in a slow crescendo, and soon the air around his athletic build begin to chill. His adrenaline rose with each slow inhale and exhale. A stiff brow lowered with intent, slanting downward to meet each other as the swaying raven hair turned a pale, ice blue. His flesh solidified and hardened, the sound of quickly forming ice mixing with the shocking pop of the surge leaping through and around his body.

“Okay, Prettyboy…,” Halorin gruffed, “No runnin’ away this time…”

Halorin yelled out in battlecry as he broke out into a warrior’s sprint, leaping from the ground to take flight. The creature met his call, vaulting from where he stood into the air like a rocket. The two collided above the operating table, meeting each other’s violent force equally and slamming down to the raised surface. Halorin was pressed down underneath the behemoth’s mass for a split second before the weight snapped the table’s support in half.

The creature bellowed in annoyance as it was thrown from its prey, landing on its back but quickly turning over to get back on all fours. Halorin flipped to his feet in time to evade the bullcharge, the operating table getting knocked out of the way like a ragdoll. He had dove to his right but caught himself in air, lashing his form around to catch the heel of his foot against the side of the creature’s face.

He let out a surprised erk as the creature snared his ankle and began spinning him around and around. The laboratory room accelerated into an unreadable blur before Halorin was thrown violently into the door of the observation room in the back. The metallic door caved under the velocity, slamming back along with Halorin against the backwall. He slumped down to the ground, resting most of his weight awkwardly on that arch between his neck and his shoulder. He groaned in pain as he turned over, sitting up to gather himself.

Sergio let out a quiet moan of sedated agony at the loud crash. Halorin looked to the man in horror. Suddenly the stakes were higher. He couldn’t let the creature see this man and use him to his advantage. There was no time to get answers. Halorin snarled in pain as he gritted his teeth, rising to his feet. The creature came charging again, but was blasted back by the force of Halorin’s divebomb flying assault. His shoulder slammed into the creature’s face, stumbling it back and into an expensive looking piece of labatory equipment.

Two threesets of claws crackled and plunged out from the backs of his fists as his form hit the ground. There was a good ten feet of space between him and the behemoth, and five between Halorin’s back and the observation room. He had to protect that man… Whoever he was.

Halorin sprang into the air again for another attack as the creature stood up, but came to an abrupt stop. The creature flung a heavy piece of machinery at Halorin, who deflected it with a quickly made wall of ice. The force behind the group pushed him back in air as the ice shattered on the ground along with the clatter of the machinery. This was distraction enough for Halorin’s ankle to be snared yet again. The entire flat of his form’s back was slammed against the laboratory’s floor. The jarring pain widened Halorin’s eyes up to the panel of machinery the creature ripped from its mount and hoisted above his head. Halorin had no time to suffer before he had to do a swift backwards roll to not be crushed under panel.

He sat in a crouch, gasping for air as the creature recoiled back. He took to the offensive again. Halorin flew up to the creature’s face and attacked sharply. Left slash across the face. Upward swoop to thrust his knee under the creature’s chin into a graceful backflip to come down with a vicious statically charged cross slash. The creature roared in pain as the fresh gashes stung with shocking static and chilled ice, but aimed a right forehand perfectly to drive into Halorin’s chest.

The force of the blow shook Halorin to the core, knocking him out of the air and sliding his body backward at an angle into the wall closeby to the observation room door. His eyes squinted shut once the agony and writhing set in. The pain was unreal. He could feel himself losing his ability to stay as ice. This was a losing battle. Whatever damage he was doing was not keeping up with the damage done to him. He couldn’t hold out for much longer.

The creature roared, spewing its venom carelessly as its head bucked backward. It could smell blood, as they say. Halorin used the wall profusely as support in getting back to his feet, his arms crossing over his torso protectively. The creature looked injured, but Halorin knew it was nowhere near being finished. His eyes, shaky from pain began to water. Here he was locked in some lab with a creature he couldn’t handle with no way to contact anyone for help. He glanced sidelong to the eyes of the man who was looking at him in a daze, the man he needed to protect.

Halorin didn’t want to die like this…

The creature roared and charged again. Halorin met the challenge and the fight continued.

Wow, heh. With all of the people signing up, it's starting to look like this won't be able to be just a few missions ran. Still on the drawing board. I'd rather do this right or not at all, so. We may have to split things up.

Stay tuned...

Still here, guys. I'm trying to take everyone's level into account and figure out what we can do. I'll be sending some PM's out to people to see what kind of assignments they can grab and section off for this. I haven't checked those ideas just yet, Ascendant, but I will later on tonight.

It's been an idea kicked around in another thread to have roleplayers from different servers go over to the Test Server to conduct some sort of crossover event. I guess I'm taking it upon myself to head up the venture. As it stands right now, Halorin is level 30, but is fast approaching level 31. I'm imaging most of the people wanting to participate in this event are at least in the upper 30s, so I'm wondering what is something that we could all do?

I'd like to get a list of people who want in on this, and I'll try to come up with a storyline leading up to the meeting on the Test Server. We'll have to schedule a date and everything OOC, but I will keep people on their toes about the actual story of it.

Sign up as follows.
________________________________

Name:
Server:
Security Level:
Archetype:
________________________________

I'm imagining this will be done on a weekend. I'd like for the highest level person to set aside a set of missions, and we'll have to coordinate who's going to mentor or exemplar who. If there's some sort of trial we could do, that'd be even better. Not sure if they let sidekicks into Trials and Task Forces these days, though.

So who's in?
______________________

Name: Halorin
Server: Champion
Security Level: 31
Archetype: Scrapper

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((Not at all! The Alliance will accept anyone who's interested in roleplaying. Whether you'd like to run solo, or are a part of a group outside of the Alliance, we'll accomodate you on any level of roleplay you're comfortable with. Once Global Chat is implemented, it will be even easier for heroes not on a team in the Alliance to keep in close contact for missions and roleplay. Bring some of your supergroup members. Maybe they'll like it too!))

I like it! Really neat stuff. I didn't know that was the Soviet name for their Manhattan Project. Excellent research.

Clumsy me. I updated it. Thanks, Click_Beetle!

Hey everyone! This coming Saturday, the 22nd, the Prelude to Justice will be hosting an Alliance of Champions Meet and Greet. Our goal is to meet up with other members of the Alliance that we haven’t met yet, and also to spend some time enjoy each other’s company! Even heroes need some downtime, right? If you’re in the Alliance, I’d love for you to show up. Any and all newcomers are certainly welcome. Bring yourself! Bring a friend!


EDIT:

Gah! Almost forgot! The meeting place will be 500 yards East of the Atlas Park tram. A nice little park I've found. (Thanks for the heads up, Click_Beetle)


We, the Prelude to Justice, will be catering and hosting the event. The time will be early to late evening. I hope to see you all there. Stay cool.

-Halorin

((Hey guys. As the message says, this Saturday the Prelude will be hosting a Meet and Greet. The time will be from 7pm to 11pm EST. Any and all roleplayers are encouraged to arrive to see Champion’s flavor of roleplay in action. We have a great community going over here and it’s only getting better. If you’re looking for a fresh change or something new to try, I ask you to consider the Alliance of Champions. I’ve loved every moment since I’ve gotten here. There is some great roleplaying to be had. If you have any questions, feel free to contact myself, Stateswoman, Lord Rufus, or anyone else in the Alliance!))

((Hey, everyone! The Prelude to Justice's first storyline is still going strong over on our forums. This is the first part of an ongoing scene where the menace finally begins its hunt. I hope you all in enjoy it! Check the future installments over at our forums.There's already some posted! Thanks!))

The night’s dark blue was pierced by a pale moonlight that shone down on Halorin. He soared to the sky, flying above King’s Row’s streets, level with the rooftops of the urban landscape. Dressed in casual clothes, a comfortable pair of jeans and a T-Shirt that read, “Cool Kid”, he was on his way to meet up with a Prelude member for a few drinks at the bar.

Halorin and Carter weren’t exactly best buds, but he felt like they were good friends to say the least. It was cool that Carter offered to hang out and wind down a little, Halorin mused to himself. There were some things Hal could stand to have his mind taken away from. Recent memories of heartache and happiness flooded Halorin’s consciousness, but he breathed a sigh of relief at the color green. This color represented the end of distant sadness and empty closeness, and the beginning of actualized emotion. A smile spanned Halorin’s lips as his eyes closed to the gentle kiss of the wind.

A foul creature of the night ran across the rooftops silently, stalking after the scent of its prey. Dr. Vahzilok’s monstrosity charged along with a quadruped gait, its powerful limbs keeping a steady pace. Getting ahead of its target in its parallel course, the abomination vaulted from the edge of a rooftop into the moonlight and open air.

The hellish screech of a bellowing voice and a high-pitched whine echoed against Halorin’s ears, and his eyes shot open wide as the force of the creature collided full onto into his frame. Like a rabid animal the creature clawed at and entangled Halorin, tackling him out of the air.

“What the hell!?!”

Halorin was shocked back to reality as this awful creature’s mouth opened and took a snap at his face. He struggled with the violent creature as they fell like an anchor towards the ground, exchanging statically charged punches with its blind swipes and attempts to bite into his flesh. They spun like a slowing helicopter propeller, crashing against the side of a King’s Row apartment complex façade and spilling out ungracefully into the middle of the street.

The creature rolled over some five feet from Halorin, standing in its all fours position. It slowly belled downward before it emitted a low rumble of a growl. The eyeless monster slapped one of its forehands against the concrete, jarring the car alarm of a sedan nearby into life. The head of the creature snapped toward the fallen hero, its jaw lowering down to let the grotesque, elongated tongue slither out. Its saliva dropped from his tongue, dribbling from its makeshift chin like a thick ooze. The slow, melodic sway of the creature was almost a taunt. When the creature spoke, it carried a sluggish, horrifying tone. It’s voice was deep, but somehow remained at the high end of the scale.

“HaaaaalllllooOOOOOoooorrinnnnnn….”

Halorin was in the process of struggling to his feet. The weight he afforded his right arm gave out quickly, dropping his chest back to the ground. The pain he felt rocked him to the core, throbbing sharply from his shoulder. His entire arm felt partially numb. He had dislocated his shoulder. The voice of the creature echoed in the back of his mind as he finally clamored to stand. The expression on the young hero’s face was mixed with surprise, pain, shock, and fear as the creature stalked toward him.

Each pace taken towards Halorin was a step he took back. He gripped at his shoulder as the hardening sound of ice foreshadowed the transformation of his flesh to ice. All of his pain was washed away by the genetic reconstruction of his body. Without making a quick movement, a frozen hand slipped inside his pocket to open a voice communication to the last person he spoke with, Carter.

“This is Hal… Come to this p’sition.. now. Right. Now.”

The creature’s head bucked upward, as if curious to the voice it heard. It voiced disapproval with another hellish scream. All four hands gripped holes into the street’s asphalt before the mammoth charged forward, running at Halorin at a frightening pace.

“Bring it on, Fido!!”

Halorin’s feet left the ground as he blasted towards the creature, embracing his fear rather than giving into it. With fluid rhythm his form swayed around and evaded the first pair of swipes. He took to the offense, rolling over one of the creature’s arms and coming up with a statically charged uppercut. The force of the attack staggered the creature back, setting him up perfectly for the howling blast of ice that pegged against its chest. The seemingly unphased monster ignored the patch of ice pressed against his chest as he bucked towards Halorin again. The hero tried to fly upward but had his ankle snared by one of the creature’s hands.

“Get, offa.. Me!!”

Halorin looked like a ragdoll, being spun around once before being thrown into one of the street’s light posts. The metallic structure snapped in half at the force as Halorin’s back slammed against one of the building’s walls. He slumped down against the wall, groaning with pain but still attentive to his surroundings. Ducking just in time, the hero avoided the half of the light post thrown for where his head was. The snapped rod pierced the brick wall like a knife to a wet paper towel.

The creature watched Halorin stand up and watch him with caution. It seemed to like having this kind of control over the battle. Halorin wasn’t as enthused about the situation. His hands slacked to his sides, fingers alternatively outstretching and curling as they always do when the adrenaline’s pumping. He muttered to himself, “Okay, pretty boy… Y’er in forra long night.”

As much as I hate to these kinds of things on any longer than they need to,

I find it hard to believe that anyone would not look at your comment and not feel some sort of condescension or malice behind it. I'll go with the idea that was meant in good-hearted sarcasm, but even in that I'm left to wonder exactly why you chose that time to put that kind of impression of yourself and the server you represent out there.

Maybe there's just a time and place for that kind of sarcasm. I don't know if it's exactly fair to assume that everyone has the exact same sense of humor. I didn't see what you said as sarcasm intitially, but that doesn't mean I have no idea of what sarcasm or humor is. I think it's a fair comment to say that the kind of humor you conveyed came at a time where it was almost sure to be taken the wrong way.

Be sure to look me up if you do come over to Champion. Again, I can't tell how serious, insulting, or sarcastic you're being with comments like 'show us the ropes.' I don't think anyone's taken a position of superiority, and I can't see anywhere in this thread where someone's quality of roleplay has been questioned. I just don't see the justification for that kind of statement.

-Hal

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Halorin, I'd be more inclined to reccomend both servers. We're not competing after all

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Righto.

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Step off Stateswoman, he was clearly only joking. There's too much conflict between roleplayers.

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Think I don't see how you feel that Averick's sarcasm wasn't inappropriate or simply unnecassary.

For what it's worth, I started out on Virtue after the game went live, and the overall attitude and theme of the server sent me right to my new home over on Champion. While Virtue certainly has the most roleplayers right now, I also think you're looking for friendly and open roleplayers, OP. To find the most of that, I'd recommend the roleplaying community growing on Champion. Even the folks who don't roleplay are rather nice and inviting to roleplayers, from what I've seen. I've been on the server since Early December and I would not look back.

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If it is now impossible for me to solo kill a boss two levels above me with out a lot of candy. How is it a Boss two levels below me (My character should be a Major Boss in mobs eyes IMO) to kill me after a fairly long battle that I got him down to 1/3 his health. Again this boss was two levels below me and actually conned white to me. I should have no more problems killing it as I would a minion of equal level. Please readjust the Boss levels. Major Bosses, IIE Named Bosses in Missions, AVs, Monsters make them as hard as you want but your everyday run of the mill boss on the street and in a random mission should not be impossible to kill. Your taking the fun out of the game for those who like to solo, who only play 1-2 hours a day (Thus not using up valuable bandwidth) these people are the bread and butter of the game. They are the majority.

Again please reconsider the boss level, and just the boss level.

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I think what's happening here is that people aren't used to change. Statesman has said that he did not intend for Bosses to be such a trivial challenge. Just because they were, does that mean that he's supposed to leave things unchanged because something slipped through the cracks? I don't think so.

I agree with you that the bosses do seem like a serious problem, but I attribute to the debt I've amassed against Issue 3 bosses to a hard head. This was a change that will need a playstyle adjustment. If you don't want to adjust, you'll be subjecting yourself to a lot of frustration for no good reason.

Think about the positives of this change. It gets the support ATs a higher value to teams. A Defender was simply not needed after the 30s game. I mean, they were but they were just icing on the cake and not a necessity. Controllers still had a place because they could lock things down, regardless of their challenge. Can you honestly tell me where a debuff was needed outside of speeding up the rate of experience to take down something?

I personally want to feel like I have a challenge that's damn near insurmountable but possible if I use my head and my powers to their best situational use. I welcome any challenge the DEVs throw at me, so long as it's fair and reasonable. I think right now it's an awkward transition at least in terms of instanced missions because bosses are showing up in solo missions without much indication outside of text when you click on the mission. Statesman has said that there will be indicators for missions that will be soloable or will most likely require a team because there will be bosses. Until this happens it's more or less mission buyer beware.

It's sad to think that people want such an easy ride through such an enjoyable game. Not everything in this game will be soloable.

They were supposed to have origin specific costumes, and a long time ago origin specific weaknesses (Back in the days when there were things like Gadgeteers), but all of that was thrown out of the window to get the game out to its fans so it could be built upon later.

I'd expect origin specific missions to come in at some point, I'd say after CoV and after all of the game balancing they're doing on the popular powersets.

It was long after sundown when Reynolds made a brief telephone call on his way home from a long day’s work and politics.

“Yeah. No witnesses. Make it look like an accident. I gave you the address. Bye.”

A grimly satisfied smirk crossed his features as he ended the call with a button on his luxury car’s steering wheel. Two birds with one stone, was the plan.

Halorin leaned back against the back wall of the elevator. The silent thrum of gears and machinery working to lift the cabin to the fourth floor was something that calmed him. It was the sound that his day was over, and it was time to rest. There’d be none of that for the weary tonight. A beep sounded and the double doors parted ways.

“What the?!?”
Halorin was slammed in the chest with a combined volley of dark energy, blasting him back against the elevator’s wall and collapsing to the floor. Four Eidolons looked to each with a silent nod before gathering the unconscious body of Halorin up and descending in the elevator. No one was in the lobby this late at night, and no one saw what happened. The distress signal on Halorin’s PDA was activated with his last ebb of energy.

They took him to a cleaners of all places. Kenny’s Cleaning. An obvious front for nefarious activity. Late at night the place was a ghost town, and not much had to be done to mask their activity. Halorin lay over one of the Eidolon’s massive shoulder, looking out of character to be so helpless. He dazed in out from time to time, hearing bits of conversation and echoing sounds as he felt himself being taken down stairs. The Dark energy stuck to him with a static cling, sapping whatever strength he tried to muster.

A pained gasp strained from his throat as he was thrown haphazardly to a hard concrete floor. His chest was immediately pressed upon by a boot. Halorin’s eyes, widened by discomfort, focused on a man’s face half-hidden by a surgical mask.

“Mr. Halorin, I presume,” Dr. Vahzilok said with a villainous sense of humor. “We’ve been..” He looked up with a smirk to his cohorts before looking down to Halorin again, “..expecting you. Do please, help yourself up.” The good doctor eased from Halorin’s chest and walked over to the capsule to make several tweaks and adjustments. He called out to Halorin as he was forcefully lifted up by his shoulders. The dark energy of the eidolons kept him weak.

“We’ve been afforded the pleasure of taking care of yourself and the members of your team, Mr. Halorin. It seems you’ve stepped on the wrong toes, made the wrong moves even. Why, I’d even go as far as to say… Your presence wasn’t welcome here in Paragon City. But we’ll be taking care of that. I’ve done research on you, Mr. Halorin. Impressive talents you have. I’m sure you’d have made quite the formidable foe, even.. a worthy ally?”

Halorin’s head was hung, but he found the strength to lift his eyes to the man across the room. He noticed the capsule, and from Vahzilok’s words, he knew exactly what was going on. He’d be set up by Reynolds. He responded with a faint smirk, “Y’say that like I ain’ still formidable.. Ain’ that how you bad guys always slip up? Y’oughtta read some comics the-Urrrgh!!” His sentence was cut off with a swift blow to his stomach, a dark energy powered punch that rocked him to the core. Halorin was allowed to slump down and collapse to all fours to gasp for air. Dr. Vahzilok smirked. “I have a feeling you aren’t in much of a fighting condition. In fact, I have read my comic books, and have done my homework. It is time for this conversation to end. Gentlemen, if you would.”

Halorin futilly tried to break away from the Eidolons who didn’t use much effort to grab him up, hoisting him into the air. He continued to struggle, only to no avail. He was being taken to a large vat across the room.

“What we have in there is a certain cryogenic solution. We were using it to, well.. engineer. We hear you and energy share an intimate relationship. I’m curious to see exactly how your death is brought to you when you are introduced to this. I’d imagine it to be a rather painful one.”

Halorin stared intently at the vat, and then his glove. The distress signal was still on but by now it was too late. He continued to attempt to break free, but there’d be no helping him this time. It wasn’t so much of a splash as it was the sound of something sinking into quicksand as Halorin was thrown into the vat. His entire body burned with pain and his energy’s reaction to extreme cold and bioengineered byproduct. Too weak to struggle free, he slipped beneath, his defiantly raised hand the last to be seen.

The volumous laughter of the room was the last thing Halorin heard as black consumed his senses.

Hey, Gang. This is the first post to the Prelude's first storyline titled Genesis. I hope you all enjoy and will continue to read updates as they form over at: http://www.freedomphalanx.com/v-web/...opic.php?t=146

Enjoy!

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Halorin sat back in his seat with a bitter face. He wasn’t in his costume, but rather civilian clothes; a loose pair of jeans, a white tank top which was draped over by an open button-down light blue shirt. The sunshine of mid-afternoon was at just about eye-level as it spattered through the blinds of the small office.

“You’re going to do it, and that’s that. There’s no other way around it, or I’ll revoke your group’s official standing in the city, which will be a violation of your parole. Do you really want that, Mr. Halorin?”

Jake Reynolds was a relatively small man, but he commanded large words from behind his desk. Gray hair and glasses defined the otherwise non-descript face as weathered eyes watched Halorin with malicious intent. He continued on.

“You don’t even –deserve- this chance, and here you are, throwing it in our face. It’s a simple task. You WILL do it. Am I understood?”

“It’s BS!” Halorin snapped back. “Th’Prelude ain’ some kiddie arrangement. We don’ do clown tricks, blow up balloons. We ain’ minor league. I’m sorry, but I ain’ gonna watch a kid’s birthday party at Freedom Pizza all day when my contacts need me out there fightin’ crime. I’ve got leads t’follow, an’ so does my team. We’re makin’ th’news. We’re doin’ good. It ain’ happenin’, Reynolds.” Halorin seemed absolute on his stance.

Mr. Reynolds crossed his arms boldly over his chest as bushy eyebrows lowered down and knitted themselves together. Anger took over his tone. “You will do it.” Halorin shook his head and stated defiantly. “I know what y’er doin’, an’ it ain’t floatin’. Sorry there, guy. You won’t have me doin’ this small-time crap ‘till I get sick o’heroin’ an’ get thrown in jail. Y’think I’m stupid?” The man’s silence was answer enough. Halorin groaned and stood.

“Listen. I ain’ got time f’this, okay? There’s stuff I could be handlin’.” He headed for the door. Reynolds watched him reach the door before stating. “..Fine, then. I will have no choice but to report this.” Halorin’s hand, which was firmly gripped onto the doorknob emitted a green glow and bent the metal sphere to conform to his fingers. Glowing eyes lashed back to the stately man. “…Y’think they’d really throw me in jail b’cause I’d rather stop a drug ring over watch y’er kid’s birthday party so you c’n laugh at me an’ my team? Right.” Halorin opened the door, but froze again as Reynolds said something that peaked his interest.

“You’ve called my bluff.”

“..I know I did.”

“I have something for you. Something real. We believe Dr. Vahzilok is up to something. We have reason to believe he’s creating something the likes we’ve never seen from his sort of activity.” Reynolds reached into a drawer on his left side and pulled out a plain folder. He slapped it pointedly on his desk. “Well? I was going to save this for a real group, but since you’re so eager to fail, it’s all yours.”

Halorin envisioned breaking this man’s neck and subjecting to all sorts of educational methods of physical persuasion, but chose to casually walk over and look at the file instead. Pictures of a Vahzilok lab were shown, with various body parts and organs laid out on tables. Halorin’s features hardened as he leafed through the grotesque science captured in the surveillance. There was something that was completely off from how Vahzilok usually operated. The last few pictures appeared to be of some sort of capsule, which was empty and waiting to have something placed inside. The hero lifted his eyes to the man at the desk. “Where’d you get these?”

“These were sent to us by an anonymous source, but if you’d look…” Reynolds paused and searched until he found a specific picture of Dr. Vahzilok himself, “here, we have reason to believe it’s credible. It looks like he’s creating something, and not just a typical zombie.”

Halorin silently gathered all of the pictures together and closed the folder with the images tucked inside. “I’ll look into it...” Reynolds gave a disbelieving look. He repeated Halorin’s words with dripping sarcasm. “You’ll look into it.” Halorin nodded and headed for the door. He stopped for a split second before shutting it behind him. “Oh, an’ I’d getta new door handle.” The force of the closed door startled Reynolds, straightening his slouch in the chair.

Reynolds stood up with a frown as he headed for the large window in his office, hands fitted neatly behind his back. He looked out to the waning sun in an aimless gaze. “That’s right, Halorin… Play along… Play right along.”

We've recruited another great member! That makes two slots left. Get the last two before they're gone!

What the Prelude is trying to accomplish is best explained here:

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showf...part=1#1867894

This was 5 months ago..

Correction. The Prelude to Justice is on Champion also. A part of the Alliance of Champions. The AoC is a network of supergroups looking to create the foundation of a roleplaying community open to anyone wanting to participate.

While we aren't on Infinity, if you were interested in creating a new character for a roleplaying group and would be a commited contributor, The Prelude to Justice may be a good fit for you.

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showf...part=1#1867894

Hey, guys. GREAT thing you're doing here. I'll personally try to swing by there tonight to meet up with you guys.

Welcome to Champion! It's a move I haven't to regretted.

Hey, gang.

There's three more spots left in the Prelude before we close out opening recruitment. Feel free to contact me in game or send me a PM here on the forums if you want to snag one of the last spot! There's a great set of roleplayers here.

It seems to me to be a little outlandish that the Clockwork would go to such lengths to snub out the kidnapping of her parents. I don't recall them ever creating human looking robots, or them using any kind of food or poison to kill people.

That said, even if you came up with a feasible way for someone to try and poison your character as she was, it's not all that believable that she'd suddenly gain super powers from and have her physical appearance changed.

I'd hit the drawing board again, if you were seriously interested in roleplaying that character. It had the beginning of a good foundation up until you introduced the date.

Also, most serious roleplayers, I would say, tend to have a name that isn't contorted in a way to fit. I'm assuming 'Hot Salsa' was taken. Simply get more creative! That's what roleplaying is about! Have fun with it. I'd reworked the backstory and come up with more clever name. I'll even offer to help you if you want.

-Hal

Every person considering roleplay should read this twice.