New Cottington Sentinels (Superhero Char RP|IC, Open)

[The United Federation of Terrans]

Evelyn "Kraken" Briggs

Evelyn rolled her eyes, hidden behind her goggles, and stopped closer to silence. Grison had bypassed the tear gas grenades completely in favor of the larger riot dispersal canister. The kind designed for knocking out the better part of an unruly mob. Its design however was much simpler compared to its smaller cousins.

"Here..." Evelyn grasped Silence's wrist and tugged it slightly; guiding it till it wrested near the canister's pin. "....its just like a grenade. Pull the pin and it goes off...eventually."

She didn't know the fuse on this model. But it couldn't be too long. Could it? Though the only expert on the subject matter Evelyn knew of was currently partnered up with the resident Sentinel gunslinger. And she had no intention of calling him.

Besides, Silence had a gas mask. So it should all work out.

"Just go in and pull the pin. Canister does the rest. Easy." Evelyn's nervous grin was evident in her words.

At least most of the gunfire had subsided.


Jason Greene

The last eight shots had all been illusions. Uselessly spraying masonry and debris. Jason dutifully scanned for targets skilled but his calls were starting to be duds. And he was starting to recognize the illusions. They were a lot of different patterns; but Vester's imagination for them seemed to cycle between a few dozen set bases.

And the number of gunmen on the exterior had seemingly dropped to zero. Most likely they were all either wounded, maimed, or retreating for the relatively safer interior. Callahan had stopped firing for now as well; seemingly frustrated with her "misses' as if wasted bullets were an offense.

"Well then..." Jason didn't pull his face away from his binoculars; still panning and seeing the same illusions. Their gunfire sounding as real as could be but harming no one. ".... looks like you got 'em all. Or they ran. So that begs the question. Want to join in on kicking down the door?"

Jason wasn't sure how they would get down there in time without abandoning their post. Or what they could do by the time they got down there. But it seemed only fair to ask.

[ImSaLiA]

"Okaybye!" Eli shouted as he started running in the direction of the entrance, he faded and floated through.
"This is kinda goofy, but I just pull the pin now or something, where do I need to go, specifically?"
He just stopped, as he realised he was very lost. He called up the rest of them, and enquired this.

[Rynagria]

Grison
"And try not to kill me while you're at it!" Trigg's voice sounded over the comms. Apparently she was somewhere where she could talk without being noticed.

"Remember, non-lethal takedowns," Grison continued as if she hadn't chipped in, "Moni, do you have any advice on avoiding your powers? I'd rather not have you accidentally knock out half the team when you breach."

Marcus gave a nod and made sure he was on the teamwide channel.

“Think of my ability like a flashbang grenade, so to prevent or lessen the effects, hearing protection is necessary, the less you hear the better. Meaning if you have some noise canceling headphones or headphones playing some background music, you’ll be fine. The light from my snap can be looked away from or maybe something like welding goggles level of eye protection from bright lights. If you’re in another room, you don’t need to worry about the effects as long as the door is closed.” Answered Marcus, trying to think of anything else he can say to clarify his powers, at the same time thoughts of him haven’t really worked much with the other members surfacing.

“I’ll also be giving a two-second early warning over comms, so if you’re in the same hall as me, listen for that heads-up. Any quick questions for clarification?”

John “The Soldier” Johnson
John parked his bike next to the Armored Van his team mates called the Bus, John just called it the Battle Wagon. John hopped off his Harley and checked his gear. He grabbed his AR and Slung it across his chest before joining the rest of the team. "Apologies gang, Y'all know how much of a Bitch Traffic can be around here!" He greeted before shouldering his rifle ready for battle.

Marcus instinctively drew his Springfield XDM and aimed it at the oncoming motorcycle, while Erica had placed her hands out in front of her as if to stop the bike, her hands reaching a blistering 200 degrees fahrenheit. Upon hearing his introduction, Marcus rolled his eyes at John and holstered his pistol, focusing instead on everyone else around him.

Erica powered down her hands, all the while eyeing John’s rifle, then speaking with concern. “Hey, if you’re going in with everybody else, you should probably put that away… Non-Lethal takedowns, remember?”

Elijah (Silence)
"Okaybye!" Eli shouted as he started running in the direction of the entrance, he faded and floated through.
"This is kinda goofy, but I just pull the pin now or something, where do I need to go, specifically?"
He just stopped, as he realised he was very lost. He called up the rest of them, and enquired this.

“What.”

Silence’s action had caught Marcus off-guard. Before he could control himself, an outburst had left his mouth. Erica only sighed as she prepared for Marcus to go off.

“For the love of all that is good and holy, we don’t have time for this! Why the fuck did you go in if you didn’t know where to go?! You could have asked first before charging in without warning like a daft man-child!” Clearly riled up, Marcus focused his attention on to Grison. “Sir, I think we should just go with the grenades instead. Have someone else throw it and the plan can proceed as intended. In fact, we have a good candidate for that right here. Johnny should be able soak a few rounds and throw the grenades into the room.”

Erica told John the location of the monitoring station, in the case that Marcus’ suggestion was accepted, just trying to make the process smoother once more.”It’s going to be by the front door.”

[Christian Confederation]

Grison
"And try not to kill me while you're at it!" Trigg's voice sounded over the comms. Apparently she was somewhere where she could talk without being noticed.

"Remember, non-lethal takedowns," Grison continued as if she hadn't chipped in, "Moni, do you have any advice on avoiding your powers? I'd rather not have you accidentally knock out half the team when you breach."

Marcus gave a nod and made sure he was on the teamwide channel.

“Think of my ability like a flashbang grenade, so to prevent or lessen the effects, hearing protection is necessary, the less you hear the better. Meaning if you have some noise canceling headphones or headphones playing some background music, you’ll be fine. The light from my snap can be looked away from or maybe something like welding goggles level of eye protection from bright lights. If you’re in another room, you don’t need to worry about the effects as long as the door is closed.” Answered Marcus, trying to think of anything else he can say to clarify his powers, at the same time thoughts of him haven’t really worked much with the other members surfacing.

“I’ll also be giving a two-second early warning over comms, so if you’re in the same hall as me, listen for that heads-up. Any quick questions for clarification?”

John “The Soldier” Johnson
John parked his bike next to the Armored Van his team mates called the Bus, John just called it the Battle Wagon. John hopped off his Harley and checked his gear. He grabbed his AR and Slung it across his chest before joining the rest of the team. "Apologies gang, Y'all know how much of a Bitch Traffic can be around here!" He greeted before shouldering his rifle ready for battle.

Marcus instinctively drew his Springfield XDM and aimed it at the oncoming motorcycle, while Erica had placed her hands out in front of her as if to stop the bike, her hands reaching a blistering 200 degrees fahrenheit. Upon hearing his introduction, Marcus rolled his eyes at John and holstered his pistol, focusing instead on everyone else around him.

Erica powered down her hands, all the while eyeing John’s rifle, then speaking with concern. “Hey, if you’re going in with everybody else, you should probably put that away… Non-Lethal takedowns, remember?”

Elijah (Silence)
"Okaybye!" Eli shouted as he started running in the direction of the entrance, he faded and floated through.
"This is kinda goofy, but I just pull the pin now or something, where do I need to go, specifically?"
He just stopped, as he realised he was very lost. He called up the rest of them, and enquired this.

“What.”

Silence’s action had caught Marcus off-guard. Before he could control himself, an outburst had left his mouth. Erica only sighed as she prepared for Marcus to go off.

“For the love of all that is good and holy, we don’t have time for this! Why the fuck did you go in if you didn’t know where to go?! You could have asked first before charging in without warning like a daft man-child!” Clearly riled up, Marcus focused his attention on to Grison. “Sir, I think we should just go with the grenades instead. Have someone else throw it and the plan can proceed as intended. In fact, we have a good candidate for that right here. Johnny should be able soak a few rounds and throw the grenades into the room.”

Erica told John the location of the monitoring station, in the case that Marcus’ suggestion was accepted, just trying to make the process smoother once more.”It’s going to be by the front door.”

John smirked and put his Rifle back on his back. "Non lethal got it." He procured a combat knife from his boot. "I can do non lethal, let's roll!" John checked his side arm and got ready to breach with his teammates. "So who are we dealing with Gun runners? Drug pushers? Traffickers?" John asked mostly because he didn't bother to read the briefing.

[Dyelli Beybi]

Grison
...

Silence’s action had caught Marcus off-guard. Before he could control himself, an outburst had left his mouth. Erica only sighed as she prepared for Marcus to go off.

“For the love of all that is good and holy, we don’t have time for this! Why the fuck did you go in if you didn’t know where to go?! You could have asked first before charging in without warning like a daft man-child!” Clearly riled up, Marcus focused his attention on to Grison. “Sir, I think we should just go with the grenades instead. Have someone else throw it and the plan can proceed as intended. In fact, we have a good candidate for that right here. Johnny should be able soak a few rounds and throw the grenades into the room.”

Erica told John the location of the monitoring station, in the case that Marcus’ suggestion was accepted, just trying to make the process smoother once more.”It’s going to be by the front door.”

Grison nodded, then called over comms, "Silence, have you found the room? Triggs managed to find it and didn't indicate it was too hard to locate."

He switched it off, then turned to Marcus, "If he can't manage it we'll storm the entrance as quickly as possible and, hopefully disable Vester. At least we'll, hopefully flush him out of the control room which should limit the scope of his illusions." He gave a small, sigh of exasperation. There had been a number of things that had gone off plan today and it was mostly from people in his team acting erratically, rather than Vester having done anything particularly cunning. While Vester was technically powerful he was, at the end of the day, a pompous ass with delusions of grandeur. There were far more dangerous people that Grison had faced over the years. With a bit more training, hopefully they'd act better as a team.

[Christian Confederation]

(So I don't lose the page)

[Rynagria]

Grison nodded, then called over comms, "Silence, have you found the room? Triggs managed to find it and didn't indicate it was too hard to locate."

He switched it off, then turned to Marcus, "If he can't manage it we'll storm the entrance as quickly as possible and, hopefully disable Vester. At least we'll, hopefully flush him out of the control room which should limit the scope of his illusions." He gave a small, sigh of exasperation. There had been a number of things that had gone off plan today and it was mostly from people in his team acting erratically, rather than Vester having done anything particularly cunning. While Vester was technically powerful he was, at the end of the day, a pompous ass with delusions of grandeur. There were far more dangerous people that Grison had faced over the years. With a bit more training, hopefully they'd act better as a team.

Marcus had waited a couple of minutes to pass and give the Australian born Supe time to respond to the commander, but when no answer was given, whatever patience he could spare ran out. Despite this, Marcus had cooled off and had steeled himself for what he was about to do.

"Sir, with all due respect, I don't think Shadow's found it yet and we're dawdling around. Without the advantage of the gas, it's going to be hard to advance without taking casualties or causing them on Vester's side if we keep on waiting. I'm still suggesting that at the very least we enter with me as point-man, then it can be everybody else. That way I can disorient anyone watching that hallway and expose any illusion, since those are the one not affected by my powers." Marcus looked around, gauging everyone's reactions to his plan. But due to not having worked much with most of these members, couldn't really get a read on them except for Erica, who showed a hint of concern for him in her eyes. But that wouldn't stop him regardless, having made up his mind already. Nodding at everyone, he took out a box of ear plugs, giving everyone at the bus a pair. "Well time's a wasting! I'll see you guys inside, if not, I'm going to see how good the healthcare provided by the Sentinels are. Erica with me!"

Running as fast as they can, the siblings covered the ground between the Bus and the door to the building without so much as peep from real gunmen. Once set up, Marcus signaled for Erica to melt/burn a hole big enough to stick his hand in, then letting loose three loud snaps on the other side of the door. Prior to snapping, Marcus informed the team over comms three seconds before. "Snapping! Snapping! Snapping!"

Having executed this maneuver several times with Marcus already, Erica was already hard at work on weakening the hinges in preparation for what's next. Once weakened enough, Erica turned to Marcus. "Ready."

THUD!

In a flash, Marcus had kicked down the door and immediately dashed in, collapsible baton in off-hand. His focus on the first person who was clearly affected by his sense deprivation, running up to them and engaging in hand-to-hand, taking them down swiftly in their state. Methodically moving from person to person down the hall, he tried to goad the trickster out into the open with some verbal banter. "Vester, you coward, come out here so I can beat some sense into you!"

[Demencia]

Aezixia
Near Vester Studio, New Cottington

Aezixia turned slightly in the air and watched the pair run off towards the studio to breach into it on their own after the lack of action from the planned Shadow. "Wydd, zmiz'w mieeylulq xe qfyww." she commented in Infernal before turning back towards Grison. "Try planning for that." she said, pointing back at the building with her tail. "I'm going to go follow them now, either keep them from dying or get first dibs on their souls if they're in over their head." The demon leaned backwards and flapped her wings once, sending her soaring towards the warehouse where the duo had just disappeared into.

She floated into the doorway, surveying the scene before her. Things weren't certainly going well, but at least for once no one could try to pin any of it on her. She raised one hand and produced an orb of flame in it, then squeezed it tight to reduce it to making a lot of smoke. She cast it ahead of her to provide obscurement as the hellspawn moved through the building to search for the two Sentinels that had breached.

After adding a bit more smoke, she finally found Marcus shouting challenging Vester directly to a fight. Using the smokescreen as cover, she floated behind him. "You know, I don't get down to Phlegethon as much as I should, but seeing all the broken bodies you left on the way here sure makes me feel like I've made the trip. Did you make a special effort just for me to not feel homesick, how sweet." the succubus said, sounding unamused. "I hope there's something resembling a plan here."

[Tesserach]

Mariska "Crazy Bird"

Grisons gave a small, sigh of exasperation. There had been a number of things that had gone off plan today and it was mostly from people in his team acting erratically, rather than Vester having done anything particularly cunning. While Vester was technically powerful he was, at the end of the day, a pompous ass with delusions of grandeur. There were far more dangerous people that Grison had faced over the years. With a bit more training, hopefully they'd act better as a team.

"Tough day at the office huh?" Ackerman felt something suddenly resting on his shoulder, looking over the raven stared intently at him with its black, pitiless eyes. "You know, sometimes I feel like the world is driving me mad too. But don't worry. Everything will be okay."

The raven's head suddenly jerked around suddenly, looking around, then immediately flapped away landing nearby where she could keep tabs on Ackerman.

---

Somewhere Else
Mariska opened her eyes.

She was no longer behind the mailbox she’d been hiding behind when she’d left to speak with Ackerman directly. She looked around. All around her were dark metal walls. Looking up she saw the sky through an opening above and all around her were garbage bags.

“Agh!” She exclaimed spitting out whatever was in her mouth and wiping her face. “Don’t think I won’t get you back for that!”

It didn’t matter this wasn’t Mariska’s first time waking up in a dumpster. But it was safe. Maybe the safest place in this whole Sentinel shit-show. So, steeling herself, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes and shifted to a seated position. So much

She’d always assumed the whole law enforcement system was inept, but this was beyond ridiculous.

---

Inside Studio
With Aezixia having already entered, Mariska sent another raven in through the open door. Finding Marcus, Erica and Aezixia inside, it was actually a challenge to coax it closer to the demoness. The birds seem to shrink from her demonic presence instinctually.

“Caw bitches!” The raven said, by way of getting their attention. “Reporter's through doors that way.” The raven fluttered one direction emphatically then circled back, finding a perch on an overturned table, it landed. "Cuttle-Lady and Bait-Boy are inside too. Six or so guarding outside. Waiting for you, I think.

"But more doors that way too." The raven pointed a wing off to the right. "Ackerman says security room should have windows into this lobby. I see one door with tinted glass around interior. Can't see inside. No one's come in or out. People near them, two in doors, three behind tables and junk. They are looking this way but... they can't see. Look scared to move... or illusions and Vester can't see.

I can try to distract them and you all can do... whatever it is you do?"

[Dyelli Beybi]

OOC: It's been a while, but I'm back and will make an attempt to apply thread CPR...

---

Marcus had walked right into the trap and while more than half of the people he fought would vanish as soon as he touched them, there were real ones in the mix. Bullets began to fly in his direction as the corridor itself seemed to warp and twist to the point where it was next to impossible to know where you had come from or where you were supposed to be going. Collision with a wall was inevitable and some of the bullets coming at him were real, though there was no telling which were which. The real ones could be the ones appearing out of the walls or possibly the ones that seemed to have been fired by someone. There was no way to tell and it was only a matter of time before Marcus, or Aezixia, who had decided to join in the chaos, took a bullet. Marcus had called Vester out, but the producer, it seemed had no plan to oblige him.

"What the hell!" Grison snarled through the comms, "Everyone, pick a different angle of approach and try to get to the control room, if you can!"

IT was the best he could do, hope that if they came from multiple directions that Vester would be overwhelmed by the number of potential threats and wouldn't be able to deal with them all. It had seemed so simple. Gas the man, subdue and extract.

He braced himself as he hopped down from the bus, dashing at full tilt towards the building, moving from cover to cover as best he could. There wasn't enough and if there was a decent sniper they would be able to hit him, though he hoped that any real guards were busy facing off against Marcus and the ones that yelled at him and raised weapons were illusions. If not, this was going to be a disastrous mission.

Abruptly all of the guards outside vanished. As did most of the ones inside, and the weird, nauseating moving floors and walls. Someone had moved on Vester... "Hey, ah, can someone give me a hand in the control room?" Triggs' voice cut through the comms, "These cultists don't look very happy about what I just did..."

Inwardly Grison winced. Logically, Triggs had been in close proximity and it made sense that she had gone after Vester when everything had turned to custard... but there was a good reason he tried to keep her from engaging too often. Triggs had something of a tendency towards unnecessary violence. He peeled off in her direction, moving fast and low along a row of parked cars. It was probably unnecessary, especially with their own snipers in place, but a little caution never hurt, "I'll be there as soon as I can. Anyone who's closer, make a bee line for Kaleidoscope."

---

Inside, the ring of fire around Johnny did not vanish. That, it seemed, had been real, though the one around Tara Jones did, "Well," she declared, gingerly stepping across where it had been, I suppose that that means one of the Sentinels has taken out Vester, one way or another," she adjusted her jacket, giving Johnny a look over, before adding, "I'll see if I can find a fire extinguisher."

[Demencia]

Aezixia
Vester Studio, New Cottington

Finally, maybe this disaster of an ordeal could end. All it took now was getting out. She glanced back towards Marcus. "Go, all I'll keep them busy." she said, referring to the few real cultists that remained. "Don't get distracted along the way and start taking detours, just get out and regroup with the others."

She lit up her left hand with fire, the smell of sulfur pouring out from the flame. "Wma silzw za kfrl?" the demon called out. Technically she wasn't supposed to throw hellfire directly at any of them, but they didn't know that. Maybe their desire to not be incinerated would be stronger than their attachment to the madman Vester.

[The United Federation of Terrans]

Sniper Nest
Jason Greene

It was like flipping a witch. The guards that Jason and Callahan had already established as being illusions just vanished. The verifiable army disappearing and leaving in tis place the wounded figures of Callahan's previous displays of marksmanship. As well as the even more wounded figures that had tried to stop the Sentinel assault through the front doors.

"Well then.....guess its time we make an entrance huh?" He shrugged his pack off again before diving into its contents and removing his prize. "One express elevator to the action."

He was grinning while he unspooled the device. A self driving and securing piton raveled with a few hundred feet of the latest weight saving climbing rope rope. On paper it was a search and rescue tool for mountain climbers. In no way was it used to escape from clandestine locations or allow a team of operators to abseil down a skyscraper without lugging pounds of traditional heavy rope.

There was an industrial sounding thud while the agent drove the piton into the deck; the equipment's nitrous charge expelling in a loud hiss. Just gave an experimental tug of the anchor and found it to his satisfaction. With practiced efficiency he tossed the rest of the spool out the window; letting it unravel while he reeled in a small amount.

A pair of carabiners appeared from a pouch; the both of them connected by a thick strap. One carabiner clipped around his vest's battle belt while the other went onto the rope itself. Jason's scarf was pulled down; so Callahan could se his full grin as he wrapped rope around his leg and made to lean back out the window.

"Kiss for luck?" His grin was wide; one hand clutching the rope while his other hand was thrust to the gunslinger. An invitation to the woman who still cradled Jason's rifle and had been his sniper for the better part of the last hour.


Vester's Lair
Evelyn "Kraken" Briggs

Evelyn was snarling under her mask while she lashed away a cultist with a shotgun. The man flew back until he hit a desk and bowled over it a like he had been punched in an old western. She didn't spare him a second thought; though she did pause briefly to crush the weapon into a useless ball of parts. She had brought up the rear of the team hitting the front door; meaning that she had stayed behind in the lobby as they moved in further to the warehouse's interior. But so far she had only found two "real" cultists. With most of her attacks passing through empty air.

Then the illusions had disappeared leaving her with just the two groaning cultists she had thrown about the room. Evelyn glanced around the room for a brief second; debating on the chances someone could come up behind them before shaking her head in frustration.

"This is Kraken. Lobby's secured. Moving to team." Evelyn kind of hated how she sounded military at times. Her training and upbringing giving habits that she couldn't suppress if she tried.

"Hey, ah, can someone give me a hand in the control room?" Triggs' voice cut through the comms, "These cultists don't look very happy about what I just did..."

'Got ya Grison. Moving." Evelyn picked a hallway she thought led in the general direction and stepped through the doorway. The door having been knocked off its hinges.

Ten or so cultists lay sprawled over the deck. Some were unmoving with massive bruises growing on their temples. Others were still conscious, clutching broken limbs and/or rubbing eyes and eyes. Evelyn huffed a breath while she stepped briskly through the obstacle course of downed cultists.

The twins had been hard at work it seemed.