Post by Shadowe on Jul 27, 2007 12:47:25 GMT
((Apologies to anyone offended by my poetic license at the end - as ever I didn't want to use anyone's characters without their permission. See if you can guess who I'm talking about when you get there 
Oh, and I'll probably post this on the main forum in IC stories later, so if anyone has any suggestions for improvement or things they'd like to see included, let me know. Ta!))
{Huntington Manor, 27 July 2007, Noon}
Richard Huntington moved through the crowded halls of his normally idylic house, stepping around medical stations, over sleeping civilians, and crept into his study - the one room in his house that had not been given over to refugees from the war.
He smiled as he watched a woman coaxing her toddler to eat, the young boy steadfastly refusing to be fed, stubborn as only a child can be. When he reached the door to his study, he pushed the door open, and slipped inside, collapsing against the wall without a care for damage to his suit. So many people here. So many people everywhere, hurt by the renewed invasion of the Rikti.
Running his fingers through his hair, he let go of his control for long enough to let a few tears of frustration seep from his eyes, before he dashed them away with the back of his hand. Too much to do. Not enough time to wallow in self-pity.
"H-Helena?" His voice caught in his throat, and he cleared it angrily. "Please give me the latest."
A hologram formed in the centre of the room, above his desk. It showed Paragon City and the Rogue Isles. The war zone was a lurid crimson, and other parts of the city were either a brilliant orange, a sickly yellow, or a placid green, signifying a current assault, an assault in the last 24 hours, or a place unaffected within the last day. Independence Port seemed to be the only place that was safe right now. Which was a good thing, since the loss of the Terra Volta reactor would cause untold chaos to the city's infrastructure. But Richard couldn't help but feel that the Rikti were building up to something big. And painful. Yes, he'd put in his time in the war zone, and seen the attempts at peace that were ongoing, and had fought side-by-side with some of the most despicable monsters from the Rogue Isles.
Huntington Manor had become a point of refuge, a place for the dispossesed to get a place to sleep, and there were no less than fourteen families staying with him and Samantha right now, safe behind the shields and defences he'd spent millions installing.
Sam strode through the concealed door leading from the basement, took a quick look at the holographic display, and collapsed into the comfortable sofa near him.
"Damn me, but Vanguard are tough buggers." Her light tone concealed a weariness that Richard knew all too well. "I just spent a couple of hours at their staging point in the war zone, shuffling orders, recoding their security systems and... fighting. So much damn fighting. Everywhere." She closed her eyes and tilted her head back, moaning as aching muscles rested for a moment.
"I know." Richard clambered to his feet, and made his way over to collapse next to her, slinging a companionable arm about her shoulders. She leaned against him and rested her head against his chest. "But if we hope to drive them away again, we need to keep fighting. To keep pushing them back."
She nodded, barely able to think straight. "Yeah, except this time we don't have Omega team to sneak to their homeworld and do unto them, do we?"
He shrugged. "There are hundreds of heroes here, Sam. Sure most of us aren't up to Statesman's standard, but we're good, and defending our home is the right thing to do."
She nodded again. "You're right, as usual. What did I ever do to deserve a big brother like you, eh?" Her teasing words were met with a chuckle and a grin.
"Don't know. Must have been something you did in a former life. Can't imagine what." She swatted at his arm, and he eased himself away from her. "You should go and get some sleep, Sam. You'll be needed back at the war zone soon enough. I'm going to head over there later on today, I think. After I've satisfied myself that everything here is under control."
She nodded for the third time. "You take care of yourself, Dicky."
"You too, Sam."
She jumped to her feet, her spirit unflagging, even if her body was at its' limits, and she had taken barely two steps before a wailing noise broke the quiet.
"Alert! Alert! Rikti dropship inbound. Alert!" Helena's voice cut through the siren, and Richard could hear scrambling noises from outside the study. The few people out in the gardens dashed toward the front door, and Richard prayed for them to reach safety even as the security blinds slammed into place over the windows.
Richard and Sam both began yelling orders to Helena.
"Get an avatar to the roof!"
"Activate full defences once everyone's inside!"
"Send out a call for help! We need every body we can find here to help out."
As he yelled that last, Richard twisted the dial on his watch, and groaned as the all-too-familiar weight of his battle suit settled around him. He ran down the stairs to the basement, and clipped an emergency shield to his belt.
"Helena? Emergency teleport access, code Ess-two-seven-three-alpha. Take me outside." A familiar moment of lurching weightlessness struck him, nearly driving him to his knees, and he was suddenly outside, staring up at the approaching Rikti dropship. Alone.
"Come and get it." He raised a hand, focused his will for a moment, and unleashed a fearsome blast of energy at the descending craft. He opened his mind to the sensations around him, and felt the gathering energy of the Rikti weapons an instant before they discharged. Twisting in the air, he barely avoided the lancing green rays that converged on him.
"Damnit, I'm nothing but a target..." He watched as the ship ignored him, except for a couple more shots that he absorbed. And then he saw it. A small bay opened in the bottom of the craft, and a spikey device fell toward the garden. Teeth gritted as he thrust himself toward the ground, unable to think of anything other than stopping the bomb before it exploded.
It sunk into the gravel driveway, sending chippings into the air, and scratching the paint on his beloved Aston. He didn't care. It was too close to the house.
He lowered his molecular signature, increasing his speed until he was a scant few feet from the bomb... And rematerialised.
WHAM! His fists slammed into the bomb, and he felt something in his right wrist give way. Grimacing in pain, he placed his left hand against the casing, and poured energy into it as fast as he dared, trying to disrupt the trigger matrix.
A familiar cheerful voice spoke at his elbow. "Hey! You'd think these things were a special pressie for the FA, wouldn't you?" Kit stood next to him, arms folded, looking frankly stunning in her new jacket and tight trousers. She couldn't see the smile through his visor, but he grinned like a schoolboy.
"Care to lend me a hand, my dear? I'd rather that this thing didn't wreck my front door." She looked over his shoulder, and nodded grimly.
"Sure. As long as you deal with keeping them off my back for a minute."
Richard span on the spot, his cape billowing out behind him, and found himself face-to-face with half a dozen Rikti troops, one of them already opening a secondary portal to summon more.
"Wonderful. Time to go earn my pay, my dear." He raised both hands and sent waves of energy at the approaching soldiers, knocking them off their feet for long enough to send more precise and deadly blasts at each of them. Kit shrugged, rested a finger on the bomb, and suddenly it wasn't there any longer. With a grin and a wave she somersaulted past Richard and planted a foot firmly in the chest of one of the Rikti.
Richard ducked a blow from one of the Rikti's new swords, and stepped into the wake, a fist hammering into the alien's armour, followed by a powerful jolt of energy. His wrist was already healed, but the continued assaults from energy weapons was slowly weakening him. The next swing got through, and he felt fire in his side as the blade cut deeply into him.
Kit was at his side in an instant, fists flying, feet lashing out in all directions, almost too fast for the eye to follow.
More Rikti ported in, and Richard's heart sank. Too many of them. Way too many of them...
A whirling dervish of raw strength ripped into the next Rikti in line, and a thundering jolt of energy blasted another group to the ground. A glimpse of flashing sword-blades tore through even more. In seconds two-dozen of the enemy had fallen, and Richard took a moment to look about him.
And the Fletched Alliance descended on the invaders like the wrath of God.
Oh, and I'll probably post this on the main forum in IC stories later, so if anyone has any suggestions for improvement or things they'd like to see included, let me know. Ta!))
{Huntington Manor, 27 July 2007, Noon}
Richard Huntington moved through the crowded halls of his normally idylic house, stepping around medical stations, over sleeping civilians, and crept into his study - the one room in his house that had not been given over to refugees from the war.
He smiled as he watched a woman coaxing her toddler to eat, the young boy steadfastly refusing to be fed, stubborn as only a child can be. When he reached the door to his study, he pushed the door open, and slipped inside, collapsing against the wall without a care for damage to his suit. So many people here. So many people everywhere, hurt by the renewed invasion of the Rikti.
Running his fingers through his hair, he let go of his control for long enough to let a few tears of frustration seep from his eyes, before he dashed them away with the back of his hand. Too much to do. Not enough time to wallow in self-pity.
"H-Helena?" His voice caught in his throat, and he cleared it angrily. "Please give me the latest."
A hologram formed in the centre of the room, above his desk. It showed Paragon City and the Rogue Isles. The war zone was a lurid crimson, and other parts of the city were either a brilliant orange, a sickly yellow, or a placid green, signifying a current assault, an assault in the last 24 hours, or a place unaffected within the last day. Independence Port seemed to be the only place that was safe right now. Which was a good thing, since the loss of the Terra Volta reactor would cause untold chaos to the city's infrastructure. But Richard couldn't help but feel that the Rikti were building up to something big. And painful. Yes, he'd put in his time in the war zone, and seen the attempts at peace that were ongoing, and had fought side-by-side with some of the most despicable monsters from the Rogue Isles.
Huntington Manor had become a point of refuge, a place for the dispossesed to get a place to sleep, and there were no less than fourteen families staying with him and Samantha right now, safe behind the shields and defences he'd spent millions installing.
Sam strode through the concealed door leading from the basement, took a quick look at the holographic display, and collapsed into the comfortable sofa near him.
"Damn me, but Vanguard are tough buggers." Her light tone concealed a weariness that Richard knew all too well. "I just spent a couple of hours at their staging point in the war zone, shuffling orders, recoding their security systems and... fighting. So much damn fighting. Everywhere." She closed her eyes and tilted her head back, moaning as aching muscles rested for a moment.
"I know." Richard clambered to his feet, and made his way over to collapse next to her, slinging a companionable arm about her shoulders. She leaned against him and rested her head against his chest. "But if we hope to drive them away again, we need to keep fighting. To keep pushing them back."
She nodded, barely able to think straight. "Yeah, except this time we don't have Omega team to sneak to their homeworld and do unto them, do we?"
He shrugged. "There are hundreds of heroes here, Sam. Sure most of us aren't up to Statesman's standard, but we're good, and defending our home is the right thing to do."
She nodded again. "You're right, as usual. What did I ever do to deserve a big brother like you, eh?" Her teasing words were met with a chuckle and a grin.
"Don't know. Must have been something you did in a former life. Can't imagine what." She swatted at his arm, and he eased himself away from her. "You should go and get some sleep, Sam. You'll be needed back at the war zone soon enough. I'm going to head over there later on today, I think. After I've satisfied myself that everything here is under control."
She nodded for the third time. "You take care of yourself, Dicky."
"You too, Sam."
She jumped to her feet, her spirit unflagging, even if her body was at its' limits, and she had taken barely two steps before a wailing noise broke the quiet.
"Alert! Alert! Rikti dropship inbound. Alert!" Helena's voice cut through the siren, and Richard could hear scrambling noises from outside the study. The few people out in the gardens dashed toward the front door, and Richard prayed for them to reach safety even as the security blinds slammed into place over the windows.
Richard and Sam both began yelling orders to Helena.
"Get an avatar to the roof!"
"Activate full defences once everyone's inside!"
"Send out a call for help! We need every body we can find here to help out."
As he yelled that last, Richard twisted the dial on his watch, and groaned as the all-too-familiar weight of his battle suit settled around him. He ran down the stairs to the basement, and clipped an emergency shield to his belt.
"Helena? Emergency teleport access, code Ess-two-seven-three-alpha. Take me outside." A familiar moment of lurching weightlessness struck him, nearly driving him to his knees, and he was suddenly outside, staring up at the approaching Rikti dropship. Alone.
"Come and get it." He raised a hand, focused his will for a moment, and unleashed a fearsome blast of energy at the descending craft. He opened his mind to the sensations around him, and felt the gathering energy of the Rikti weapons an instant before they discharged. Twisting in the air, he barely avoided the lancing green rays that converged on him.
"Damnit, I'm nothing but a target..." He watched as the ship ignored him, except for a couple more shots that he absorbed. And then he saw it. A small bay opened in the bottom of the craft, and a spikey device fell toward the garden. Teeth gritted as he thrust himself toward the ground, unable to think of anything other than stopping the bomb before it exploded.
It sunk into the gravel driveway, sending chippings into the air, and scratching the paint on his beloved Aston. He didn't care. It was too close to the house.
He lowered his molecular signature, increasing his speed until he was a scant few feet from the bomb... And rematerialised.
WHAM! His fists slammed into the bomb, and he felt something in his right wrist give way. Grimacing in pain, he placed his left hand against the casing, and poured energy into it as fast as he dared, trying to disrupt the trigger matrix.
A familiar cheerful voice spoke at his elbow. "Hey! You'd think these things were a special pressie for the FA, wouldn't you?" Kit stood next to him, arms folded, looking frankly stunning in her new jacket and tight trousers. She couldn't see the smile through his visor, but he grinned like a schoolboy.
"Care to lend me a hand, my dear? I'd rather that this thing didn't wreck my front door." She looked over his shoulder, and nodded grimly.
"Sure. As long as you deal with keeping them off my back for a minute."
Richard span on the spot, his cape billowing out behind him, and found himself face-to-face with half a dozen Rikti troops, one of them already opening a secondary portal to summon more.
"Wonderful. Time to go earn my pay, my dear." He raised both hands and sent waves of energy at the approaching soldiers, knocking them off their feet for long enough to send more precise and deadly blasts at each of them. Kit shrugged, rested a finger on the bomb, and suddenly it wasn't there any longer. With a grin and a wave she somersaulted past Richard and planted a foot firmly in the chest of one of the Rikti.
Richard ducked a blow from one of the Rikti's new swords, and stepped into the wake, a fist hammering into the alien's armour, followed by a powerful jolt of energy. His wrist was already healed, but the continued assaults from energy weapons was slowly weakening him. The next swing got through, and he felt fire in his side as the blade cut deeply into him.
Kit was at his side in an instant, fists flying, feet lashing out in all directions, almost too fast for the eye to follow.
More Rikti ported in, and Richard's heart sank. Too many of them. Way too many of them...
A whirling dervish of raw strength ripped into the next Rikti in line, and a thundering jolt of energy blasted another group to the ground. A glimpse of flashing sword-blades tore through even more. In seconds two-dozen of the enemy had fallen, and Richard took a moment to look about him.
And the Fletched Alliance descended on the invaders like the wrath of God.
