Reach City, year one: Orientation

OOC: alright guys second update is here. Unlike last time, I'll only be putting character names per area, instead using bold on that part and the first time their name comes up in the content. If either of these are inconvenient to anyone, say so and I'll see about re-integrating
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Hero Orientation room; 
The fight raged on inside the auditorium-like building, both sides were just getting started and our heroes were in the crossfire. The robotic footsoldiers were being held at bay by the first line of defense, but more of them appeared from behind the hole in the wall, one by one they attempted to continue with suppressive fire on the defenders.

*Vs Eruption, the man of lava;
Players:Ursa Rajom, Nicholi D. Trake, Trace & co.-

The demon Prince's orders ring out, luckily only his allies seem to respond to that. Derek in particular was trying to pick up as many people as he could, using the extra strength granted to him by his power suit. His super speed would be useful in clearing away the wounded, but if he wasn't careful slipping up would be a guarantee and he couldn't afford that with some of the people he was carrying. Trace's new telekinetic friend was out of commission after the big grenade explosion so he could only rely on volunteers who weren't in the middle of a big shootout. The biggest problem for a tactician like Trace was that he had no idea what his opponent was capable of. He had faced many adversaries, both demonic and supernatural, but even for him a man of lava with seemingly no otherworldly ties was...odd. The water was slowing him down and keeping him in a generally solid frame but he was still able to fight and with others having backed off or split away from the fight to evacuate injured, Eruption was down to fighting a single bear-man who proved quite agile but might need help in taking the offensive. How to do it was not apparent to the devil spawn as Eruption transcended normal human physiology.

The big molten man was meanwhile doing his best to fend off Ursa Rajom, who was the main threat at the moment and the only thing keeping the lava man at bay. One of the handstand kicks connect, and from what little he felt on the sole of his foot was enough to make him think twice about going in again. Backing off was the smart decision and his back flip nets him distance, but Eruption saw it as a sign of weakness,

"Raaaagggghhhh!" he howls, striding forward in hopes of smashing Ursa with the obsidian skin that formed over his molten core. Steam comes off the body and his joint areas were constantly cracking and re-breaking to allow for movement, which gave Ursa precious moments to react, but this guy was managing to keep up speeds with the rogue Capoeirista. Worst it seemed like the multitude of backup Ursa had begun the fight with decided to take a more defensive route given the current circumstances. In other words he was left out to dry.

Nicholi was one of these men who backed away from the main battle, though his gambit might pay off since his friend Trout was out of harm's way for the moment. Trout had proven himself to be hydrokinetic earlier and with any luck he was in the middle of manipulating the torrent coming down from the sprinklers for an all-out attack. Though Nicholi saw only one man was currently fighting off the lava man and the only thing special about him was that he was a dancing bear. Anything could change at this point, so doing something else could be a good idea. Meanwhile, Trout was focusing and chanting something in a language unknown to the half demon. Whatever it was, that was likely what his ace in the hole was and little Trout thought it would pay off.

*Main battle with the intruders;
Players: Animalius and Minerva Rajom, Star Patrol Captain James Sphinx and member Trevor, Fortune, & co.-

Animalius' charge is definitely a highlight of the fight, everyone saw a large rhino charge through the current group of machines, sending two flying and one was gored onto his horn. After that though the large Animalius was in danger of crashing into one of the auditorium walls as the wet floor made stopping difficult. Minerva brings up the rear and successfully decapitates the remaining robot of the first wave with her one-two combo.The super-heating seemed to help, but the robot's were not particularly reinforced to begin with. Nonetheless the two siblings seemed to have the situation more or less handled when a second wave of gunfire erupts. It's less than before, but the weapon had upgraded from single-shot to automatic fire. The Rajoms were pinned down and in a pickle: Minerva's armor was high quality, but with this much lead being put down range she likely wouldn't want to risk testing it's capabilities out the hard way. Just in front of her was her brother Ani and he was taking the most fire. The rounds were man stoppers and had some armor penetration capabilities, though not enough to fatally injure a fully-grown rhino without sustained fire. Ani was fine for now, but only if he remained in his current form and he risked losing control and ending up in an entirely different set of problems

If there was a silver lining to this, it was the best opportunity Sphinx and his group were going to have at escape. The returning fire stops as they are amazed at the sight in front of them. They even stopped a backwards walk-style retreat to gaze on. Sphinx knew a second wave was in but the machines were too busy with the rhino and his female ally, who were right between the two groups.

"You heard the man, back up!" another voice calls out. The heroes had the focus so Sphinx could probably order a full retreat and not regret it, though he had other factors to take into account. Most of his posse were low on ammo and wouldn't mind cutting their losses, but there were at least two wounded from the gunfight and the loose eager one who had their weapon trained for a good bead on the robots.

On the other end of the spectrum was Fortune who made up the final man of a charging trio of melee fighters. By sheer luck, the rhino and the fire girl had most of the attention and the swordsmen could flank the robotic squad and draw first blood. They had a beeline right for them and there were five robots currently, each armed with a futuristic looking sub-machine gun. They were focusing fire on the rhino in hopes of bringing it down first, and the fifth one had some kind of tube attached to it's back which probably wasn't just for show.

Closer to the entrance, Trevor was making slower progress. The catgirl and Liz had been making sure everyone that was on their way out took a designated pathway. Though eventually they went in, trying not to rush but the situation called for urgency. Officer Vasquez took point with a shotgun at the ready, Liz stayed back a few yards and kept low on the off chance a sniping opportunity presented itself, though she wasn't confident unless the deluge from the sprinklers stopped- as evidence she had a modified MP7 out and her rifle was holstered onto her back. If Trevor felt like crawling, he'd have to slosh through a few inches of water that were gathering. It wasn't pretty but it did what he needed to do and with less people in their way as the catgirl scattered whoever was left, he didn't risk getting stomped on. As if by luck, if he was wondering about how to deal with the robotic threats with just his staff he was smacked in the side of the head by something carried in by the drifting water. 

Lobby; 
The situation was still jumbled, certain parts were under fire or investigation while others seemed serene in their calmness. Of course any hope that things would pass by harmlessly was an illusion Reach City staff was hoping to keep up as they did their best to handle the surprise attack.

*Nurse's office;
Players: Maria/Prometheus, Hirro and Krystal Felidae, & co.-

The last thing Albatross needed or wanted was to be given combat advice by someone she didn't even have reason to trust. She didn't have a reason to think they had ill intentions either, so she heard out the group. As the others spoke, the head nurse directed Krystal over towards three people. Currently they were the only people brought in, if anything the fact that in the middle of such an emergency nobody else was being brought in is what scared them. The first one was in critical condition from stab wounds, he had the patch they earlier at the train-stop area on his clothing. The second and third patients were found next to each other, knocked unconscious. No one was sure if they had any head trauma so they just did their best to keep them stabilized. With a great sigh Albatross caved in and started explaining the situation to Maria and Hirro when she realized the help could be needed.

"To answer your question we have several silent alarms that have been tripped, they could be anything from an assailant to a kid stepping into the wrong part of the building. We've had security detail check most of them...that's how we found those men over there actually." she comments, before taking a deep breath. "It's chaos where there is activity, like the Orientation rooms where we have confirmation of threats. Nearby the monorail we hope to escape on and a few of our other emergency exits are calmer, we have security in place to hush things up prevent a super powered riot on top of the rest of this mess...whoever is doing this and whatever they're doing, they are good and it's keeping us in the dark. We're not sure how to respond, but I'm trying to evacuate who we can before sending in the big guns to clean up.As for this place, the infirmary is pretty easy to fortify, but if we have to bring people in then it's going to get crowded very fast. There about a dozen things we can do, but I don't want to present a kill box to these guys or to be trapped by the only two doors in an out of here if worst comes worst. I have operatives being requested to locations left and right, I'd be lucky to keep whose already in here, but..." She grabs her head like she's about to have a migraine before taking another deep breath. She takes a big sigh about wondering how to explain the rest.

"Ms. Cygnus, calm down" the girl Abby from earlier states. She was worried and Albatross nods, trying to enter a meditative mindset before motioning to Tundra Wolf, who has been trying to survey the situation from the map. 

"Tundra, you brought these guys in. Keep them company, and right here. If they ask a question, answer it and if they have any good ideas bring em to me" she states slipping into a strong voice. She turns Maria and and Hirro with a frown. "For now at least, I'll keep this place fortified. I'll send the best I have here out to guard the doors, but if I say we're leaving then fall in line or get left behind" she states, and Albatross doesn't leave room to argue as she heads back to the impromptu meeting. Abby is ordered to assist Krystal and she orders a few others to wait outside the doors. Tundra meanwhile walks to Maria, subtle in her actions.

"I won't make any excuses, but she's usually nicer than this" she mutters before glancing around. Quietly she taps her head. "I memorized the map" she whispers, hoping that would be helpful to her new friend's cause.

*Just outside the Orientation room;
Players: Star Patrol member Kairi, Dark Lizard, & co.-

The final Star Patrol member heads off, though she nearly gets caught up in a massive group of people being forcibly moved down a middle pathway between the Orientation rooms. Kairi had to keep cool or a lot oft he uncomfortable and scared feelings might start to rub off on her. The maintenance closet wasn't anywhere nearby, or at least labeled. She could head further left where a man in an odd cross between tactical gear and spandex was guarding a door. To her right was the labeled Villain Orientation room and things seemed to be going crazy over there, an odd-shaped lizard man was with what looked like a Security team who was under fire. As her eyes darted she did read a door labeled employees only, though where that led she could only begin to wonder.

Meanwhile Dark Lizard was having a marginally more interesting time. He managed to shadow-trap two GTS officers with hi secret power, but Dark Lizard had pulled this trick one too many times before, he needed to work on his stamina and it just might get him killed. The security force falls back away from the door, the bomb disposal man having been hit in the awkward mix-up. DL was wondering about the next step of his non-existent plan when he felt someone yank him away, and by proxy the GTS officer's were thrown sideways into the fight before the link broke.

"Are you nuts? Stick with me lizard breath, we're playing it safe after that" Rose speaks, a bit bluntly at that. She knew the guy meant well, she also knew the guy was a bit 'too' honorable so she wouldn't let him get himself killed on her watch. Luckily, the rest of the cops ignore them for the moment, save for one with a rather large gun keeping an eye on them in between suppressive bursts of gunfire inside the Orientation room. They pop in a flashbang grenade before attempting to clear the room inside of the armored GTS threats. In his daze DL, noticed much the same that Kairi did, albeit from a different angle. He saw a big door labelled employees only, some doors guarded by a big man in tights/armor and groups of people being pushed away, presumably to evacuation.

*Bathroom break:
Players: Scarlett the shark girl, Felicity Fortune

OOC: My hands are tied here, Jesus#'s/Scarlett has the last post so get on that Lawman/Felicity.

*Restricted area: 
Players: Kain

OOC; sorry bud, I even rolled for it. Just ask Ham

For an ancient rōnin a proper element of hiding in plain sight(that is, having something to blend in with) was lost on him for that moment as he sneaks into the restricted area. Kain's katana, no matter what it was under, would be rather easily spotted to anyone skilled enough or determined enough to find him with it. However that was not an immediate problem, there was nobody around when he entered. However as he rounds the corner, he didn't need super hearing to listen in on a bunch of loud boots in motion. He couldn't get an accurate number, but at least a squad's worth was coming and there was nowhere to hide. The hallway fed into the direction the noise was coming from, and there were no doors so the only way to go was back or towards them.

"Clear!" would happen a few seconds in. Whatever caused security to sweep the train led to them to sending men who could professionally move in an urban environment, were confident in handling whatever threat that could occur in a city full of superheroes, and readily sweep rooms in their own facilities in a timely manner. Worse yet they were coming his way with no signs of stopping. Something more devious than even him was at work, and unless he wanted to find out the hard way how security would treat a suspicious lone man with a hidden sword and briefcase then he better make himself scare in the next few seconds. 

Ursa: He sighed, slowly realizing he might be at a disadvantage. He kept going back, keeping eruption between him and the people shooting and trying to get eruption in the line of fire to protect animalius. After doing so, he would flip over Eruption and try to maneuver his way into the shooters and start taking guys out with spin kicks.

Animalius/Minerva: would turn into a monkey and run up the wall before backflipping off the wall and turning into a cheetah and charging right at the lava man. Before hitting he would turn into an elephant and slamming into him. Minerva meanwhile leaped onto the top of the mammoth and leaped off into a flying knee on the eruption.

Dark Lizard: He proceeded to run away with Rose, looking to make his way out of the room where everyone was going to probably die. He went the way opposite of where the cops were, and preferably away from the entrance as he looked for the way to reach city. "sounds good to me." He said.

Fortune: Taking advantage of the momentary distraction Fortune attacked aiming a slash with his magic sword directly for the tube on the fifth's back. He might as well see what that would do and he prayed it wouldn't blow him up. 

Star Patrol: Captain Sphinx: He weighed his options escape was the main objective but they had an opening to turn the tide, those caught in the middle could get overwhelmed very quickly. Slipping back into command mode Sphinx gestured at his allies, "Get the wounded, keep moving." He ordered. They weren't going to last or be much good out in the open their mechanized foes had the advantage, but that didn't mean he was done fighting. "To quote John Paul Jones, I have yet begun to fight." Sphinx growled. "Fall back to the rear. Fire only if you have a clean shot."  

Trevor: Retracting his staff Trevor picked up the object and examined it, it was some kind of rifle a ballistic weapon in fact he'd seen them in historical footages, he'd had a friend who was a reenactor with a similar weapon, trying to remember the steps to fire he found the charging handle and racked it back. "Oh, bugger!" He exclaimed as a bullet jumped out. Next he flipped the lever to the NO 1, then he brought the rifle up and looked for a shot he found one robot that wasn't moving much and seemingly focused on something else, it was a bit far away but he could hit it with a raygun if he had one o a projectile could probably reach it.

"Eat this you tinplated bastards!" He exclaimed pulling the trigger. Wait didn't these guns kick or something? 
 
*BANG!* Went the gun. "Bollocks!" Trevor exclaimed. 

Kari: She used her discipline and training when dealing with negative emotions and kept moving trying to ignore some of the more desperate feelings, she made her way to the staff only door. Perhaps there was something of use in there for what she was planning, or at least a directory.  

   

"Well," PROMETEO replied to Tundra, "I suppose her mood has plummeted since the surprise attack. I'm sure she's an upstanding lady otherwise."

"Whatever," Maria butt in, "She sounds like Sergio when he acted like our leader... so, let's do this. Defend the area then?"

"Oh sorry, you gave me a fright earlier," Felicity apologized sincerely as the "shark lady" she'd ignored earlier shifted into a human form. The woman made a good point however, when she said that she (Felicity) shouldn't be going off on her own. "Well, you looked like you might know what's going on a lot better than I do," the blonde girl remarked.

"Alright, lead the way then."

Hero Orientation room;
The bad guys seemed on retreat. The real worry was whether or not they could regroup after being pushed back by the brave fighters and warriors who stood their ground. The answer was in question, but staving the initial force bought much needed time for something useful to be thought up.

*Vs Eruption, the man of lava;
-Players:Ursa and Animalius Rajom, Nicholi D. Trake, Trace, & co.-

Ursa was in a unique situation. He went from single handedly holding off a much stronger creature at bay, to getting more help than he likely bargained for. His attempt to escape the current brawl and let his brother handle the lava golem was stunted as Eruption proved fast enough to smack Ursa to the ground with a back-swing and an unusual twist of what passed for the beast's torso. Luckily for the bear-man Trace the devil-spawn had decided that he would like to be the one to finish off the beast. Ursa no longer had to worry about Eruption as a direct threat, the newcomer eve went out of his way to make himself the focal threat but Trace was definitely a variable the semi-human leader didn't have control over. To pile on more issues, he saw his sibling's charge in and the armored sister Minerva was floored by an unknown force, leaving her in sights of the robots a ways back. Some people engage the robot but that quickly turns into a mess.

"Rawr!" Eruption would howl meanwhile as Trace whacked away at him with his 'fathers' sword. Luckily whatever material demons of hell made their weapons out of could handle the hotter temperature's the golem was still carrying. They were flesh wounds, or the closest thing that could be considered as such, but the beast wasn't going to be felled so easily. Watching Trace strike at Eruption was more like watching a lion tamer try to keep back a large animal. As the demon spawn taunted the lava man, he gives off a cracked smile and he covers up with his arms and he seems to be making a low noise...like he was taking a deep breath. Trace might wonder what his opponent was planning, but he might literally have other problem coming up behind him.

This would be in the form of Animalius. The young shape shifter charged forward with intent to slam into the golem with his sister. Unfortunately, what Ani might describe as a 'armored jerk' was in his charging path and he didn't exactly learn his lesson last time as the wet floor made things difficult. Trying to break momentum without the utmost care(and a bit of luck) could lead to a nasty wipe out before he got anywhere near Eruption or crash into Trace. His sister was not faring any better, but between Trace's ill-timed assist and Eruption having something up his sleeve he was unable to focus on that.

"What the heck are they doing" grunts Trout, as he bares witness to the mishmash that was going around Eruption. The little guy was nearly done charging a powerful attack him and Nicholi were hoping would take him down...except the fish kid wasn't positive he had a clear shot with everyone in the way now. Despite needing intense focus, he manages to shoot Nicholi a quick glance as if to say 'who the heck charges a guy made of lava'. Nevertheless, it seemed to Nicholi that Trout would prefer some micromanaging on his target before he unleashes his attack.


*Main battle with the intruders;
-Players: Minerva Rajom, Star Patrol Captain James Sphinx and member Trevor, Fortune, & co.-

Minerva was on her way to going after Eruption when something floored her. The armor stopped the round, but she lands face first into a few inches of water and concrete. Dazed, it would take a moment to realize the robots were closer than any ally that would come to her aid for the moment. She sees a man with a sword, a dragon boy, an a Minotaur charge the robots but who knows if they'd win.

"Aww shit!" Sphinx hears come from one of his men. Everyone saw Minerva drop to the ground, but it was the Star Patrol captain who noticed that a vigilante whose aim was a bit off was the one responsible for knocking down the mysterious assistant with a buckshot round. He tries to make up for it with a more accurate shot in the direction of the robots but the little lass was down for the moment. Trevor, who was behind the two Police Officers, missed his shot by a mile but he at least was aware of recoil now. He had a clear view of a group of vigilantes charge the second wave of machines and the downed girl. Among them was Fortune and he proved his namesake: the tube was type of grenade/mortar launcher and another second of hesitation would have allowed it to fire off to do untold damage. Instead he cuts the tube in half along with a good portion of the robot's 'spinal' area which seems to cause it to go haywire. If nothing else there was no kaboom as Drago and Crete crash into the big gunners, leaving a single robot un-engaged. He attempts to retreat and regroup with someone. Or something else. It just avoids a burst of gunfire by the incoming Officer Vasquez, this one was pretty fast.

"Dammit, Liz go stealth mode" Trevor hears the catgirl grumble. With a nod and wink, Liz literally disappears.

Lobby;
All around things continued to be a case of controlled chaos. Moving from one section of the floor to the next could mean you were in a calm environment or seconds from being run down by a mob. Unfortunately for the Orientation staff, the chaos was starting to win out as nobody was sure what was going on.

*Nurse's office;
-Players: Maria/Prometheus, Hirro and Krystal Felidae, & co.-

Maria was determined to turn the infirmary into a fortress and luckily she had picked up just the friends who would back her up.

"Of course" Kendra speaks up after quite awhile of silence. She smirks at Hirro before continuing. "Yeah, we can board up the place a-" she says when Tundra cuts in.

"I'm all for defending this place, but we best not interfere with em for now. I can put up a quick blockade if we need to, but she wont let me try that right now if she needs an evac" she mumbles. Kendra frowns.

"Aight, well I got a better idea. You guys can find some cover in case something happens and...well...how do people normally do these things' she grunts, before getting an idea. "We need someone on the outside!" she comments. Tundra looks over, she didn't think it was a bad idea to have an up-to-date reference, but she quickly points out that her contacts are busy. "Well I can do it, shapeshifter remember?" she grunts.

As that went down, Krystal was led over to the three men who were injured. In particular, one of the nurses motions to the man with stab wounds. "He will need the most attention right now, until those wounds start to clot he should be kept under watchful eye".


*Just outside the Orientation rooms;
-Players: The Dark Lizard, Star Patrol member Kairi & co.

Dark Lizard was more than strong enough to practically drag Rose out of the danger zone. The problem was where to go next. At the end of the hallway he ran down there was a small window teasing Reach City...of course short of making that a shortcut he'd need to turn back and all he could see right now was the main hallway and a bunch of people being filed through. He'd need to think outside the box if he wanted any other path beside that.

Trying to figure out a different sort of equation, Kairi opens the staff only door to find a hallway. It rounded off to the left and there were three doors. One labeled cameras, another unlabeled and the final one had a metal door as opposed to wood. What she did with this knowledge, she better figure it out quickly.


*Bathroom break:
-Players: Scarlet/Frenzy and Felicity Fortune

As Scarlet pondered how best to keep Felicity calm after the distasteful comment, they head outside and they saw a massive group of people look like they were being evacuated. Though before either girl could be warned about that Scarlet's radio pinged in again.

"Frenzy, where the heck are you? I need you in sector Beta, it's like it is flooding with people right now a-...aww shit" Tumbler grunts before she turns off her radio's mic. Something was going on near where the crowd was heading, but at the same time Frenzy still had Felicity to take care of. Things were getting weirder and weirder by the second.


Monorail station/food court:
-Players: Kain

The escape is flashy, but once again Kain makes a tactical error if he wanted to be subtle and not . For starters, breaking through the door in armor into a place one wished to blend in with. Kain's crash immediately gains attention. Several men who were outside the monorail draw weapons on him in a flash. A few other individuals were curious as to what the armored samurai was trying to do.

"Hey buddy, drop the sword and chill out." one security personnel grunts, while holding a large caliber rifle. A few others were a bit less tactful.

"Hands down if you do not want to be treated like a threat!" There were at least four men who were waiting for reasons to open fire. A glance towards the main lobby could be either an advantage or a death sentence. A large crowd were filing down, so much so he couldn't see the end of the hallway. Even his strength probably couldn't cleanly breach them but if he wanted to play it any riskier it was something...otherwise maybe he would prefer to talk down the security and any possible heroic bystanders from being shot...or worse.

Kain had to control himself. He didn't want to cause any more of a seen than he already had. He was mad at himself for acting so rash. Thinking quickly he spoke to the guards. "I'm sorry for the damage. I became lost and I then heard the sounds of fighting and wanted to be prepared."

Placing his sword into his scabbard with one fliud motion he politely bowed. Thinking to himself the whole time that if he had the chance and the right circumstances he would drain each and every one of them for speaking to him in such a manner.

"My name is Mitsumi Hasano. I am new to this city. I simply wanted to meet a business partner here but the ruckus seems to have made that an impossibility for the day." Kain then caught eye contact with who he pressumed was the leader. He tried to place a suggestion into the man's mind. "I would be extremely grateful if you could help me to a safe zone. Once I get my night club up in running I would be in your debt as far as food and drinks are concerned."