[fitd]: FREEDOM CITY! [Issue #1: Let's get Kraken!]

[sun_tzu]

Huh. Looks like we're on our own for a while. I should probably try to get to know the others a bit better while I'm here...Never been much of a social butterfly, though.
Soul looked around her. The guy with the fiery sword was kinda cute. The guy with the armor...His earlier statement seemed to indicate a certain "alienness" about him. The river guy had an accent so thick she had trouble understanding a word. The speedy guy seemed nice enough...and he'd been helping in the fight, with the way he punched every robot.
"Tempo, right? Thank you for your assistance earlier. I was curious...You answered the question they asked you, but what did you think of the other questions?"

[Nerd-o-rama]

"I...it was...I could...*sigh*," Fireblade deflates a bit after the Captain and the rest of the League bustle off.

Smooth, self. Way to let your mind into the gutter around Captain Mom, Baseball, and Apple Pie there.

*

No one asked you.

After a couple seconds, he stands straight again. "Well hey, if there's some kind of big hero crisis going on, we should keep an eye on it. I wonder if the League's got some kind of mission control deal we could visit. Or failing that, a staff lounge with a TV and cable news."

[fireinthedust]

ooc: Fireblade, you have heard stories of the Freedom Hall computer. It's nifty, and has a heck of a surveillance capability. You and the other Claremont grads would have been there on a field trip, actually. So yeah, you could find it, or ask Captain Thunder's wife. Or, as you guys have been heroes for however long, use whatever normal methods you use to find crime/crises.
The meteor thing over Panama, however, you'd have to get either online or at, say, the Freedom Hall computer area, if that's what you're monitoring.

[Nerd-o-rama]

ooc: yeah, I meant the meteor thing. Was vague, sorry.

"Actually, come to think of it, yeah, they do have something like that! Excuse me, Mrs. Gardener? I'd like to keep an eye on how the League's doing out there. Can you, uh, point me to the Freedom Hall computer center?"

*

What? Thanks for the compliment on secret identity-keeping, but I actually just don't know how to get there from here.

*

[Green Bean]

Tempo smiled at the sorcerous hero. "Yep. And you're...Soul, right? Nice to meet you." Tempo scratches his head. "The questions weren't that unexpected, really. Claremont was pretty big on the ethics of superpowers, and we covered the basic moral dilemmas a hero's likely to run into. What'd you think of them?"

[SuperMuldoon]

Apex watches as Captain Thunder departs, and stands at ease.
Well...that could have gone better... Lost in thought for a moment, Apex barely realizes that everyone else has started to converse. Standing around awkwardly, he prepares to introduce himself to the heroes chatting when he hears Fireblade inquire about keeping tabs on the crisis at hand.

"Uh...excuse me...Fireblade was it? If you want to know whats going on in the city, my suit's sensors are patched into the communications in the area. I'll tune in and see if I can find anything out."

With this, Apex activates his sensor array and sees if he can learn anything about the crisis, or barring that, any pressing matters going on in the city.

(OOC: Apex has a sensor array that is able to pick up all different types of radio communication, so he'll listen in on that. Also, just as an aside, he's not in an Iron Man style armor, he's more in a sleek power suit, think Booster Gold )

[sun_tzu]

Tempo smiled at the sorcerous hero. "Yep. And you're...Soul, right? Nice to meet you." Tempo scratches his head. "The questions weren't that unexpected, really. Claremont was pretty big on the ethics of superpowers, and we covered the basic moral dilemmas a hero's likely to run into. What'd you think of them?"

"Oh, you're from the Claremont Academy?"
Soul had been trying to seem otherworldly and dignified earlier in the presence of the Freedom League - she needed to look the part, with as little questions asked as she could afford - but now that she was alone with the other potential new recruits, she was loosening up a little.
"Well...The question about the villain and the toppling building is something I hope never to have to deal with, but if I did...Well, the whole world is more important than the people in one building, I guess. If I couldn't save both...I'd go for the doomsday device first. I might have a nervous breakdown later, though.
Then there's the question where the police shows up to arrest you. If I knew I hadn't done it, I'd be somewhat suspicious - it could just be a misunderstanding, but it could also be that I was being framed, or even that those weren't real cops. I guess that, instead of following them, I'd teleport directly to the police station to turn myself in...and use my one phone call to ask my teammates to investigate."
She seemed rather satisfied with her answer, then she got pensive and added: "Of course, that's theoretical. What I'd actually do under stress conditions...Well, who knows?"

[fireinthedust]

ooc: Fireblade makes it up to the control center and starts monitoring the news (naturally, like Super Friends, it tells you exactly what's important for the story: that the jet is flying towards the disaster; of course, there shouldn't be a camera on the jet, just flying, but there is. hm.)
Apex, you also have an idea of what's going on, your ear peice is working fine.

Do the rest of you go up with Fireblade to the control center? yeah? Maybe?

[Green Bean]

"That's true. You never know how you'll react to something like that." Tempo notices Fireblade heading for the control room. "Anyway, we should probably head for the control room. I like to keep my eye on anything with 'massive energy readings'"

((Assuming nothing else comes up, I follow Fireblade to the control room))

[sun_tzu]

"That's true. You never know how you'll react to something like that." Tempo notices Fireblade heading for the control room. "Anyway, we should probably head for the control room. I like to keep my eye on anything with 'massive energy readings'"

((Assuming nothing else comes up, I follow Fireblade to the control room))

"Probably wise, yeah."
As Soul begins following them, she considers hovering there...but finally decides to walk.

[SuperMuldoon]

Apex sees everyone heading up to the control room, and not wanting to be left behind, follows them to the control room while keeping tabs on whats happening through his earpiece.

[fireinthedust]

You see the control room: it's really cool. The place uses technology even Apex would find impressive.

There is a massive screen showing all sort of events from around the world... then the signal cuts out! At the same time the sky turns red, and a blood-red light shines through the window. All the screens are dead for a moment, then start flashing: EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY!

Mrs. Thunder's mouth drops open. What the heck is going on?

[Green Bean]

Tempo marvels at the control room. "Wow! They can keep an eye on the whole world from here!"

As the sky turns red, Tempo panics for a moment, afraid that they'd accidentally messed with the glass tinting controls or something. But as the controls start flashing again, it's replaced by a more general sense of dread. What's going on here?

To get a better look, Tempo rushes out of the headquarters, seeing if he can get a better view from the street.

[Nerd-o-rama]

"Uh...uh oh," Fireblade observes sagely.

*

Yeah, you're right, he thinks. Then aloud, he says, "I guess we should concentrate on local stuff, then. Mrs. Gardener, can you get a view of what's going on in the city up on the monitors?"

As he feels the rush of air as Tempo moves past, he continues, "Or those of us with super-speed could just go stick our head out the window. Um. What can we get in here...news, emergency reports, police and fire channels, whatever the League usually uses when stuff like this happens."

[sun_tzu]

Crap...Two crisises at the same time? Or are they related...?
It suddenly occured to Soul that, with the Freedom League otherwise occupied, it would befall someone else to deal with any crisis that came up, if it required superheroic involvement. Maybe the Next-Gen...Then she glanced nervously at the group around her.

[SuperMuldoon]

Look at this place...they are defintely ahead of their time with this equipment...I wonder... Apex is quickly pulled out of his thoughts when everything went suddenly red. Not good!

Suddenly Tempo was gone and Fireblade was questioning Mrs. Gardener. Well, lets see what I can see. Apex focuses his visual sensors up at the sky to try to see what's causing this, while listening in on the conversation around him.

[fireinthedust]

Out on the street:

You reach the street, one after the other, and see up in the sky... a ship? A great huge ship, not unlike the hull of a three-masted schooner, but made of metal and far larger. It's space-aged, and impressive... and flies a jolly roger off the back!
The ship itself if moored by a long chain to the top of a sky-scraper.

The street, you realize, is becoming deserted: all the citizens of Freedom are scurrying indoors. A wind has picked up, tossing newspapers about, and it's eerie... but what makes it worse is that the sky itself is completely red. Like, scary-movie red. Yeah. That kind of read. No clouds, no sun, but the sky is giving off its own weird-red light.

OOC: Brennus and CFG, I believe: are you ready to join us? You've been minding your own business when suddenly the sky went red and there's a pirate ship moored to a sky scraper. You both would be (perhaps patrolling) near the Freedom Hall, and so see several costumed Heroes (who are not the Freedom League) coming out of the building.
What do you do?

[Nerd-o-rama]

Fireblade stares at the monitors (or at the sky, whatever). "A flying pirate ship? When did we get to Disney Land?"

[sun_tzu]

"Oh man."
Soul looks at the others. "I don't suppose this is something perfectly harmless, is it?" It is clear from her tone that she isn't expecting such luck.

((Hm. Should we have an idea what's going on?))

[Da Beast]

Aesir is hurrying up the steps of Freedom Hall when a large red dome begins to blot out the sky.

Well this is just great, first I oversleep for my interview with the freedom league and now someone broke the sky

He turns to see Tempo standing outside the building

Are you with the Freedom League? What's going on here?

[Green Bean]

Tempo, almost mesmerized by the giant ship floating on top of the skyscraper, nearly jumps out of his skin when he hears someone talking to him. Fortunately, his double-take and swift reevaluation of the speaker took a matter of microseconds, and by the time the newcomer finishes speaking, Tempo has an answer ready.

Not exactly. The real Freedom League left a few minutes ago, so now there's just me and a few other heroes who were applying for membership. You wouldn't happen to know what's going on, would you, 'cause I think we were sort of left in charge..."

[Da Beast]

Aesir turns to look up at the flying pirate ship

So... you got any ideas?

[Green Bean]

"You should probably head for shelter. Go inside and head for the control room; I'm going to take a closer look."

With that, Tempo darts off, travelling at fantastic speeds down the increasingly empty street. Okay, until I know what this is, I shouldn't get too close.

He travels up the side of an adjacent skyscraper, looking over at the ship and the building it was moored to, searching for anything strange. Well, anything stranger than a flying pirate ship turning the sky red. He takes the scene in for a few subjective seconds, then runs off again, hoping he was moving fast enough to remain unmolested.

((Assuming I don't get shot, or smack into a force field or something))

Moments later, Tempo's back at the entrance to Freedom League Headquarters. He pauses next to Aesir for a moment...

"C'mon, you have to hurry!"

...then continues back to the control room and relays what he saw to the others.

((Incidentally, what does Aesir look like?))

[Da Beast]

(Assuming Tempo doesn't get shot, maimed, force fielded, whatever)

Aesir begins to call out I don't know where that is...

I thought I was quick. Well, you've gotten places with out directions before. Come on, don't screw this up...

Aesir focuses his power and with his destination in mind forces him self across space, appearing in the middle of the Freedom Hall control room.

(Aesir is well muscled and stands just under 6 feet tall. He has ear length blond hair. He wears a simple shirt and pants (I was originally thinking blue but now I'm not sure on the color scheme) with leather boots and gauntlets. His gauntlets, boots, and belt are adorned with metal plates (I was originally thinking silver but once again I'm rethinking this) engraved with viking art and symbols. If you have the book Deities and demigods, Thor's belt is where the idea for the belt, boots, and gauntlets game from.)

[SuperMuldoon]

Apex looks into the sky as his visual sensors zoom in and focus on the ship coming out of the sky.

"Why is there an ancient marine vessel coming out of the sky? And I thought I'd seen it all when I was on Erznon IV during their 'Inside Out' celebration..." Apex briefly shudders at the memory.

Apex begins to relay what he sees to the others when someone just appears in the control room. Apex, being no stranger to teleportation, addresses the newcomer.

"Well, considering you just ported into the control room of the Freedom League, the strongest superhero team at this time on this planet, I'll say you are either on our side, or you are some sort of scout coming from that ship up there. Which is it?"

[Nerd-o-rama]

"Oh yeah...we might want to switch on the security. Um...someone else might want to switch on the security. I get lost trying to find the any key."

Fireblade backs away from the observation computer thingummy and looks at the newcomer. "We're Freedom League candidates-under-review. Who are you, and...hm...you look a sort of death metal pirate or something. What do you know about that spaceship?"

[fireinthedust]

Brennus: can't have a simple shirt and jeans on, it has to be spandex. Very important rule, no Jeans! I'm not even sure I want to allow sneakers or sandals!!! ;)

Tempo: When you scout out the ship you see that it's a very aerodynamic design. Up close it's shaped like a pirate ship crossed with the ship from "Flight of the Navigator", all silver-metal and cool-looking. The chain is some kind of space-metal, but looks solid enough.
On the deck of the ship you see a dozen or more pirates coming up from below, working, and going back down. They're all armed with blasters and cutlasses. However, not one of them is human! They're a vast assortment of strange alien creatures, from spider-like things with human arms, to four-armed frog-men, to wads of slime wearing red-white striped sailor shirts. One of them is wearing a long coat, beneath which is a suit with thick armor plates. His head is inhuman, like that of a giant squid, and unlike the others... he notices you! He fires a blast from some kind of rod, and it singes the ground near your feet as you zip back to the rest of the group.
That he noticed you at all is incredible, considering your speed. Something about him...


Everyone: The Freedom Hall control room is now only just picking up news feeds, which tell you only that every Hero group in the city is noted to be out of town, or in another dimension; that no one knows what the ship is but that panicking would be a very good idea right about now; and that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are going to have another baby, and whether or not this pirate ship's appearance will change anything.

Mrs. Gardener reports that she hasn't been able to reach anyone, that communications around the city are basically dead... except the news, and Entertainment Now.

[Green Bean]

Tempo explains all of what he saw; the ship, the pirates, the tentacle guy who shot at him. "They all seem to be on the ship, but it's probably just a matter of time before they start looting the city, pirates being what they are and all. We should come up with a plan. Street guy, can you teleport more than one person?"

[sun_tzu]

Only us. Talk about trial-by-fire.
OK, Jill, think rationally. If these guys are cutting off our communication with the outside world, there's pretty good odds that they're hostile. No certainty, but pretty good odds. And given the scale of this, they obviously have a lot of power at their disposal. We can't count on the Freedom League, the Atom Family, or even the Next-Gen bailing us out (though it'd be great if they found a way to do it). But...For better or worse, you're a superheroine, and there's several other superheroes with you.
When you put it like that, the course of action is pretty clear, no?

Soul lifts her head, and hovers two feet above the ground. "I can open a portal to that ship that we can just walk through. But we need a plan, in the likely case these guys are hostile. You," she points at Aesir, what's your name and abilities?"

[Da Beast]

(I forgot that Apex was using green. All the good colors are taken )

Aesir raises his hands in a non threatening gesture.

I go by Aesir and I'm definitely with you guys. I'm not entirely sure what my powers are myself, but as I understand it I've inherited the abilities of Thor. In the past I've managed to teleport three other people with me, four if they're all very light.

Brennus: can't have a simple shirt and jeans on, it has to be spandex. Very important rule, no Jeans! I'm not even sure I want to allow sneakers or sandals!!! ;)

By simple I meant devoid of markings. I now realize that I could have been more clear about that. Stylistically think like the tunic Thor is wearing in this picture. Is that good or are you really adamant about the spandex rule?