Rebel_Scum

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Seeing this, Valerie waited until the cyborg had passed, then wrenched the lid off the manhole and climbed inside, of course making sure to close it again afterward.

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Sitting there calmly, finally taking the time to rest for a bit after the chaotic mess that had been their failed attempt at kidnapping the Sovereign, Valerie gave a startled intake of breath and aimed her rifle up at the manhole cover as it opened again but lowered her weapon as she recognised the person coming down as one of those biker thugs she'd run into earlier. "Oh, it's just you lot", she commented, switching to fairly badly accented English for their benefit since she didn't think they spoke German.

A couple of them waved to her but the leader seemed to be a man with a plan, moving off down the tunnel as though he knew where he was going. Which he didn't, but like that'd ever stopped him before. Away from here, was all he needed to know. Or all he thought he needed to know.

"STOP!", she yelled after him, causing him to do exactly that more from surprise than anything else. Apparently he hadn't even seen her there. "I don't know what the sewers are like in your dimension, but here they're monitored." She gestured to a junction some distance ahead, around which came what could only be a small surveillance robot. At this range they'd be indistinguishable static on its sensors but if it got much closer it'd trigger an alarm. "This way, follow me", she said with some urgency, motioning for them to follow before breaking into a run away from the robot and around the corner of the nearest junction.

Ildela looked up at the screens, thinking quietly to herself. "Hmm..." She took some of the money she'd gotten off the last bet and handed it back to Tony. "Five on the tank, and five on the villains with one KO."

"And incidentally...", she pulled one of the swords from its sheath on her back. "By the time those goons get here, they'll wonder why you called them." She held the finely polished and very sharp-looking blade up to emphasise her point before sliding it calmly back into its sheath. "And where's that drink I ordered? Actually screw it, get me one of that stuff he's having instead." She gestured towards Spencer.

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we're the only ones from the island with means to come to this world

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"AHA!", Pax practically yelled in the manner of someone suddenly having a stunning revelation. "So you admit it, you're not from this world!" She burst out laughing, though it was fairly obvious she was laughing with them rather than at them. Or maybe she was laughing at herself, who knows. Stopping after a while, she looked over at Akemi.

"Yeah, pizza sounds good to me", she commented before getting an odd look on her face. "Actually, come to think of it..." She snatched the not-a-spirit out of Sarah's hands and disappeared in that same golden light that people always associate with time travel - for good reason.

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Gentleman Bones, however, reacted immediately, throwing a gloved hand in the downed man's direction and warping space-time about him in such a subtle fashion as to jam nearly all commonly used means of teleportation.

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Pax's response was somewhat less subtle, and far more overwhelming. Bones, Arek and herself suddenly felt the whole world lurch sideways as time itself abruptly shuddered to a halt. Of course only those three would be aware of that, to anyone looking they would simply seem to disappear and reappear as though they'd teleported or something.

Likewise, the Van driver's equipment, beacons, recall devices and pretty much everything else except the barest minimum of clothing necessary to keep him decent would seem to simply disappear, ending up in a pile well beyond easy grabbing distance as Pax sorted through it all.

(( If I'm stepping beyond bounds with this, lemme know and I'll edit. ))

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"Maybe we can find the information we need in the Sedadyne building itself."

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"Sounds like a good idea to me", Cassie agreed, handing what now barely resembled a cybernetic head at all to Mac, who stowed it in a small storage compartment that opened up on one of his legs before following Cassie outside with all the grace and subtlety that a half-ton robot could manage - none at all.

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"They be kind of angry if I start dealing behind there backs and I got enough trouble with the Mooks trying to move in."

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"You really think they'd be stupid enough to attack a place frequented by so-called 'destined ones'?", Ildela asked as Tony handed her the money. "Ahh who am I kidding, of course they would. Be complete suicide, but that's never stopped them before."

She looked over at the guy going over to talk to the Nightwidow. "Yeah, that'll go well. How come I never get looks like that?", she mused absently as she looked up at the screens to see if there was anything else she could waste her money on.

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"Welcome to the Den."

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"So that's what this place is called. Cool", a voice came from apparently thin air, which became not so thin as the stalker sitting at the bar decloaked. She'd been on her way to the Pocket D, but had seen this place on the way there and decided to give it a try. The sneaking in was just a habit more than anything.

She was dressed in a black trenchcoat that had at some point had the sleeves ripped off it (The tattered remnants were still visible) over which sat a pair of sheaths containing two long and slightly curved swords, plus matching black pants held up by a studded leather belt. Her longish hair, somewhere between brown and orange in colour, was tied back in two bunches to keep it out of her face. Those with mercenary connections might recognise her under the name Bladed Mirage, but she usually went by Ildela.

Pulling a pair of fingerless gloves off and shoving them in her pocket, she leaned casually on the bar and looked at the various bottles stacked on the shelves behind. "One of those, thanks", she requested, pointing to the bottle in question. "And I have five bucks that says those heroes beat Babbage but take at least one casualty doing it", she added with a glance over to the MFC guy, before going over to him to give him the cash.

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Then the world disappeared in a flash of bright white light as Pax's Photon Seekers struck home. When the light cleared, a smoldering crater was all that remained of the peculiar lunatic.

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"...the hell?", Pax asked, looking slightly stunned. The Photon Seekers alone shouldn't have completely vaporised the guy, unless she'd gone way too far with them. "Umm, oops?", she said in that same stunned tone, looking around for Arek and hoping whatever had got the crazy guy hadn't gotten the dragon too.

(( Really Grey, if she'd been going for 'smoking crater' I'd have said so. ))

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"Or a criminal... But... You guys probably saved our bacon. I guess you're cool in my book."

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"That's good", Cassie laughed, gesturing to her robot. "Be such a shame to have Mac here vaporise you after all the effort we went to in rescuing you all.

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"Lousy freaks!" he shouted hoarsely, "You think I'm goin' to the Zig, you got another thing comin'!"

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"People never know when they're beaten in this city", Pax commented angrily, leaping back into the air so as to more easily dodge the shots even though they weren't that accurate to begin with. "Fine, if we absolutely must do it the hardest way possible..." She glowed brighter for a moment, three spheres of light detaching from her aura and flying towards the screaming man. But instead of simply detonating harmlessly against the ground in the event they missed, they'd circle around and come after him again. Photon Seekers were like that, amazingly persistent when they felt like it.

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"Man, there's some really weird stuff in here", Cassie informed the others, reading the information off a holographic screen helpfuly provided by Mac. "Looks like these cyborg guys were hired from a company named Ayre/Webber Strategic Security.... based in London, apparently. Anyone have a really fast jet or something?" She got up, walking cautiously over to the Rikti. Though she did keep the forcefield generator powered up just in case so she could blast the alien away on a moment's notice if needed. "So... you're working with the heroes? Man, now I really have seen everything."

"Billy?", Pax repeated, a vaguely exasperated tone in her voice though it was also easy enough to tell she was kidding. "I swear, every time I look away for a second you guys multiply." She laughed before going back to inspecting what she now recognised as a Pnevma spirit (Or at least something very much like one), thanks to Sarah's more reliable memory. "Hmm, I don't remember them living inside gold and silver containers like that..."

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"If we were on the island right now, I'd swear this was a car's lift generator...but all cars here run on wheels and internal combustion engines...don't they?"

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"Huh? So it's not a spirit then? That'd explain the container I guess", Pax answered, looking up at the dragon from where she'd been looking at the not-a-spirit. "And yeah, in this time I'm pretty sure they do. So where'd this come from and why was it sent to you, Sammy boy?"

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Still, the presence of that force cut off a direction to escape in, making the presently quickest way out of this sector the sewer system, an entry to which just happened to be in the alley beyond the corner she'd just rounded.

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Valerie was in no mood for a fight, let alone with one of the Sovereign's top guys. Which, with the tanks and other forces blocking all other routes away from the area, left her only option as sneaking down into the sewers to make her way out that way. So that was exactly what she did, trying to get through that entrance without attracting any unwanted attention.

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"I am not sure how you are draining the cuffs, but I would suggest you quit wasting your effort. Every technological device in this building is mine to observe and wield as I see fit. Do not try my patience and I shall see to it that you and your draconian ally are in place to strike Teivos this evening."

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Isabel had to resist the urge to laugh at him, the cuffs still reporting imminent containment failure despite the additional power. Which made sense, since they hadn't been drained at all to begin with.

"Forgive me if I don't take your offer so willingly, after how the last one went", she practically spat at him. "And for your information, every technological device along with everything else in this building is going to be mine to turn into a glowing crater pretty soon. Even if I wanted to stop interfering with your cuffs, I can't do that any more than I could stop my body try to fight off a disease." As if to accentuate her point, her eyes started leaking energy as the cuffs finally began to fail completely and Isabel's powers started to return to her.

Isabel looked around as the elevator ascended, unable to help admiring the view even as obscured as it was by the people in front of her. Something about large concentrations of firepower appealed to her. Unseen and unnoticed in their moving, a small warning light on the power-dampening handcuffs she still wore blinked on to indicate the devices were close to losing their effect over her powers.

You see, early in her career in Paragon Isabel had gotten herself captured by the Council. They'd put her in a cell equipped with a variant of this same technology, and she'd been imprisoned there for some time before another hero found her. After that incident, she'd gone to great lengths to make sure she wouldn't be so powerless to save herself ever again. Though making herself completely immune to the effect of such devices was next to impossible, what she had managed was a sort of immune response. The longer she was affected by the power dampeners, the more resistant to those effects she became.

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Valerie swore under her breath as she realised the clothing she was sorting through was still slowly unravelling. Whatever that spell had been, it must be ongoing. Hurrying herself along, she quickly redressed herself in a pair of baggy-looking black pants, a white t-shirt and a long brown trenchcoat beneath which she could easily hide her rifle. Probably no less conspicuous, but at least she wouldn't be pegged as a rebel on sight. She left the store in something of a hurry, but stopped dead in her tracks as she beheld what was going on outside.

After all, the Sovereign and several of his highest ranking officers fighting a bunch of Chinese sorcerors isn't something you see every day. Nor was it something she wanted to keep seeing for much longer. She turned and walked away, forcing herself not to break into a dead sprint until she rounded a corner and was out of sight.

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"Any one?" The man said holding up a gold and silver sphere that seemed to contain some kind of shifting light.

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"It looks familiar...", Pax answered with a perplexed look. "I know I've seen something like it before, but for the life of me I can't remember where or when." She got up, coming over to take a closer look at it.

(( Anything in particular she'd notice? ))

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"Perhaps not. I am unfamiliar with Terran technology. You are a roboticist, correct?"

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"Yeah...", Cassie answered, taking the severed robot head and studying it curiously. Pulling a screwdriver and prying a small panel off the side before sitting down against one of the cargo crates to tinker with her prize. Mac stomped after her, offering 'helpful' advice and generally being someone to bounce ideas off.

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"The van is down, repeat the van is down", came Pax's voice over the comm channel though only Arek and Cher'tak would hear it unless one of the villains had gotten into their channel somehow. The peacebringer rattled off a set of coordinates before following the crippled vehicle down, intending to make sure no one escaped before the others arrived.

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At least then, he’d have the same clear shot he’d had against that Crab Longfang that had tried to tear through the roof.

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Which was precisely why Pax hadn't done that. She might not have been one for thinking things through fully but she wasn't so completely stupid as to present a stationary target at point blank range to anyone who may or may not be in the van wishing to kill her.

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Of course, it required the rounds actually hit their targets. With the doors flapping back and forth as the flying van bobbed and weaved in the wind, he often lost his target.

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And with Pax making some evasive manuevers from the moment she heard the first shot whizz past her head, he would have an ever harder time hitting her. Not to mention she was fully capable of returning fire, specifically with a trio of energy blasts hurled toward the vehicle. Or more specifcally, at the hover pods she'd noticed when it ran her over - if she could shoot it out of the sky, it couldn't get away so easily.

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The sound of rockets followed by a loud crash announced Cassie and Mac's return, the big assault bot walking in through the same hole he'd used to leave and looking as frustrated as a robot could look. Cassie confirmed the likely impression by stating disappointedly, "We lost them."

Training Origins are exactly that - basic training in the use of powers. Inventions are a little harder, and in my experience tend to be used as specific plot devices rather than a general part of the story.

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So reasons to leave one Seeking men to um.. party with, Seeking more powerful Magic for there own use or to use against the Red Caps, and just bordom after fighting the Reds for 500 years or so.

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I like the first two, but the third doesn't seem to make much sense given what others have posted. Besides, those two on their own are reason enough.

And now with their backstory and stuff all well defined, how does one go about RPing them ingame? As in how do they speak and act, are there common things they wouldn't know, etc.

Edit: the Sorceress of the Winds bosses are the ones BB is talking about. Their ingame description:
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Most Cabal Sorceresses have becomed quite hardened over the years. Most are utterly implacable, fixed, single-mindedly in their quest to exterminate the Red Caps. Still, some Salamancans have reported seeing a look of pity in the eyes of the sorceresses. It could be that there is some spark of humanity left in them.

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EditEdit: And the mission dialog (From the 'investigate the warehouse' mission given by Gordon Bower, said by random spawns):
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Cabal Minion 1: We must plumb these poor creatures for their secrets
Cabal Minion 2: A pity. But it will get us closer to our goal.

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Yeah, most people don't use enhancements in that kind of directly-from-the-game fashion. What would ingame be buying enhancements is usually explained in a less direct way. Actually come to think of it, look at the general description of the enhancement category - like natural/tech DOs are 'Gadgets', mutant SOs are 'secondary mutations' and such. Provides a nice easy explanation for a character to suddenly increase in power. Even moreso if you remember that ingame enhancements drop off enemies so you could even conceivably make arguments for it happening in the middle of a fight.

Personally the only ones I bother explaining are the proc IOs and to a lesser extent set bonuses. In RP powers are as strong as you think they should be, you don't need enhancements or anything. Though they do make convenient plot devices from time to time.

(( At no point that I can find was that said or even hints made that the van was anything other than an average black van in appearance. Did I miss something? ))

I've done the arcs heaps of times, but I kinda got the idea that the whole 'part of Croatoa' thing only applies to the Tautha and the Fir Bolg. Gotta read closer I guess?

Edit: also the two witches in question are currently in the service of a Circle of Thorns guy, loads of potential there for how they can leave Croatoa.

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((Everybody else, unfortunately, is mounting a pursuit that is going to prove ultimately fruitless...))

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(( The hell they are. ))

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When it became obvious they weren't going to catch the flying van, Pax and Cassie stopped. "Fine then, if you're allowed to cheat so am I", Pax commented, but before Cassie could ask what she meant the peacebringer disappeared in a flash of golden light. She looked around, but didn't see Pax reappear anywhere. Finally shrugging in defeat, she told Mac to fly her back to the others.

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Pax did in fact reappear, but not after she disappeared. Rather she appeared a couple of minutes before, when it had still been possible to catch the van. Or, unfortunately for her, possible to get hit by the van as she'd managed to appear right in front of it. Disappearing under the front of it, the driver probably thought he'd killed her with the impact or at least knocked her out of the sky. Such was not the case.

In fact she was a smidge more resilient than that, and had recovered quickly enough that the van wasn't out of sight before she took up pursuit this time. Better than nothing, I guess, she thought to herself as she flew after it. A flash of greenish Kheldian energy healed most of the injuries from being run over, but she was still a little dazed. Not so dazed that she didn't think to bring up her energy shield in case someone inside the van decided to take potshots at her though.

(( Edit: That better, Grey? ))

I don't want to call you a liar, but can you tell us where you got that from?

Pax looked around. As far as she could see, things were wrapping up here. Not that that mattered, since the van they needed was gone already. Thus, no sense in hanging around her. One last stomp and flare of energy sent the remaining agents clustered around her flying in all directions. Pax then took off herself, flying off after the van.

Cassie had much the same idea, waiting for a lull in the battle before making a break for it herself. Flashes of light lit up the area as five of her six bots vanished into the same portals they'd first appeared from. Sending one last force bolt toward the nearest enemy, she jumped up onto Mac's shoulder and the big assault bot in turn fired his thrusters. You wouldn't think an assault bot could get itself off the ground, but somehow Mac managed it. A bright blue flame burst from thrusters mounted in his feet and back, and he accelerated to a fairly impressive speed before disappearing through the hole the van had left.

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Outside, both of them had the same idea - get after the fleeing van. And that they did, leaving twin trails of energy and rocket exhaust as they each pushed themselves to their absolute top speeds to catch the vehicle. Seeing Drago and his friend shot down, Cassie put shield bubbles around Pax and Mac before producing a larger bubble centred on her to protect all three of them. Almost simultaniously, the peacebringer and the assault bot fired bursts of energy towards the van, aiming for the man inside.

Valerie couldn't care less whether the mercs and Griffin or the bikers followed her or not. At the moment she was beyond caring about anything other than her current objective, simple as it might be. For if she let herself care she'd have to feel the pain of all her lost friends, so casually erased by the Sovereign's forces. One more reason to hate them, but she didn't have time for hate or grief right now so she resolutely pushed both aside in favor of losing the uniform and then getting the hell out of Dodge.

To that end, she reentered the clothing store and sifted through the piles of destroyed and semi-destroyed clothing for something both inconspicuous and still in one piece. She remained oblivious to the fact that the Sovereign himself and his entourage were approaching. Not that there was any gaurantee they'd look inside and notice her there, but if she'd known she would have hidden anyway.

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"Hey!", Isabel protested as the various bots shoved her along. "I'm going willingly, there's no need to be so rough!" Not that it had any effects on their actions. As the assault bot grabbed her she stared calmly back at it. A number of emotions reflected in her eyes, but noticably absent was one in particular - fear. For whatever reason, she wasn't afraid of them in the slightest. The inhibitor cuffs on the other hand reported a minor fluctuation in their effectiveness, but nothing outside of acceptable margins.

"Now why would you be putting my name on a tombstone?", she answered when they asked. "Surely I'd be more useful to you alive."

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Electric sparks started to radiate from him as runes floated over his head, just like that one he and the other rogues had faced in St. Martial.

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Pax didn't know what those runes and sparks were, but she could guess. And Cassie's violent swearing at the sight of them confirmed her guess. Thus, things had to be done or they were all going to go up in a huge explosion. Well. No way was she letting that happen.

Only problem was, she had no way of stopping it. Fortunately, someone else did. A near impenetrable forcefield bubble sprange up around the fallen ninja, enough to contain or at least severely dampen the impending explosion unless it was something truly exceptional. That was all she could do though, as she had to concentrate on keeping her bots safe so they in turn could keep her safe. Teal and green light flared around the area as she alternated between flinging force bolts to blast enemies away and repairing the damage her bots were taking - thankfully not too much, thanks to her own efforts and those of the two protectors with the shield bubbles - with a handheld nanite device. She kept up a steady stream of mostly foul language throughout, muttering angrily under her breath as she blasted yet another ninja away from her. "Seriously, is there no end to these things?", she asked no one in particular.

Seeing the exploding ninja thus contained - hopefully - Pax turned her attention to the rest. "Enough with the shadows", she commanded as she returned to human form to let off an attack much like a flashbang grenade, a bright flash of Kheldian energy lighting up the warehouse. Some of the ninjas stumbled around almost drunkenly, trying to shake the afterimages out of their eyes so they could see again. Others seemed completely unaffected. It was those others that Pax opened up on next, energy blasts flying in a steady stream from her hands to land amid and against them. Every fifth one or so detonated with a wave of concussive energy, though whether it actually knocked any of them over remained to be seem.

(( If I'm overstepping things here Grey then tell me. They struck me more as disposable minions than something I should have to ask permission to beat up though. ))