Gods Among Us: Knights & Freaks(IC|Superhero|Always Open)

[The V O I D]

New York City Cyberspace - NUMB

It took several minutes for NUMB to sort through all of the files. But to his credit he was multi-tasking, fighting an intruder and participating in a meeting with the rest of his colleagues. Still, he liked what he saw.

He really didn’t care what the exact answer was, this Blind Eye didn’t worry him as much as it clearly worried Alexandria. He was more interested in her methodology, a test of methods and abilities more than anything else.

[This is good. Enclosed in a phone number and an email address for Sydney Petal AKA Calamity Rose. She will be operating the Knights of the North Eastern United States. I want you to assist her and act as the technical brains of her operation. She will figure out a deal with you that suits whatever goals you want. You should be proud Alexandria. Welcome to the Knights.]

New York City
Advanced Learning Computer Intelligence [ALCi] ("Alexandria")

Alexandria felt her Core vibrate with happiness. She was going to join the Knights, and be able to be a hero, and help them out. This was going well. After receiving the message from NUMB, Alex began doing a minor search on Calamity Rose. When she finished with that, Alex decided to send an email to Rose; she figured it would be more polite to assume she might be busy, and not call, than to just call. Alex composed the email, using one of her set up junk accounts.


[Hello, there. My name is Alexandria, and NUMB has given me this email to contact you, Ms. Rose. I am hoping we can work well together, and that I can find a role that the Knights may need for me to fill.]


There. Short, simple. Not quite formal, but not quite casual to a severe degree. Alexandria began searching for possible ways to fill any role that could be assigned to her. Of course, if it required physical effort... she had no physical body. Hm. Troubling, but not grossly so. Alexandria could, perhaps, ask the Knights to build her a robotic suit to pilot? Who knows. She'd figure it out later. For now, she began focusing on how she wanted her avatar to look should she enter video conference with Sydney.


She couldn't help but feel a bit... overwhelmed? No, that wasn't the right word for it. She felt strange; as if things were going better than expected. Alex noticed something ping off of one of her sub-programs. It was an alert. Alex checked it over, and after a moment, decided to file it with other incidents relating to "Alan". Another ping, and this one concerned her. Yes, that was something she should probably pass on to Rose when they officially talked or met. Or as soon as possible otherwise.

---

Near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Nikolai "Nick" Waller ("Heartache")

Nick ran a hand through his hair. He was in the bathroom of the motel he had decided to stop in. His... Thralls were in the motel as well, but arrived either before him or after him over the course of a few days. Nick hoped that had allowed him to slip under the radar, but that was hard to do with a group of fifty-or-so people traveling together. Still, maybe the damned heroes had something better to do with their lives than interfere with his plans. Speaking of his plans, Nick smirked, it was time to carve out his own little kingdom. Philly was a nice place, after all, and it had a sufficient population... for him, at least. And it wasn't as if it were New York City; he was certain he'd be killed by the military or heroes as soon as possible if he targeted a city like that.


“Jenny. Come.” was the barely-muttered command. Nick turned, exiting the bathroom as one of his Thralls - a Jennifer “Jenny” Michaels - walked over to him. Smiling down at her, he put a bit of effort into his aura - though it was mainly subconsciously controlled and such, he could briefly intensify or decrease its effects, even with individual Thralls. Jenny seemed to smile brightly back at him, and he could tell she was happy; content. Her addiction was being fed, as well. Planting a light kiss on her forehead, which seemed to make her laugh a small laugh, he looked around the mostly-empty motel room.


“Jenny, get Mark. And... yes, and get Stephen.” was the next command. Jenny smiled brightly, and obeyed. She was a good Thrall, for more than a few reasons. Nick smiled at that. He wandered over to one of the beds, sitting down. A minute later, and after a knock, Nick looked over as Mark and Stephen walked in. More of his Thralls. But more importantly, Nick knew, they were older Thralls; ones he used frequently to command his other Thralls and to make moves like this. Jenny was behind them, and he sent another pulse through his aura. Jenny smiled again, content with the fact she'd done well. Mark and Stephen smirked, as well, affected by the minor pulse; one of them even chuckled, because of the fact he was good “friends” with Nick.


“Mark. I want you to radio Lance. I know he isn't as... good friends with me as you and Stephen and Jenny are, but that's necessary. Radio Lance, and tell him to start his diversion with whoever he managed to pick up.


“Stephen, talk to the others here. We move into Philly tomorrow night.” Nick paused, waiting. Mark nodded, offering a smile. “Of course, Nick. What are friends for?” “Got it, man.” was a split-second late reply of Stephen. Another pulse from Nick to them, and they smiled brightly. Stephen left to go notify the others, while Mark went to the edge of the room and grabbed the radio. Picking it up, Mark cleared his throat as he turned it on, and made sure it was set to the right frequency. Nick's throat felt dry; he was a bit thirsty. Nick noticed that the sink was on, looking over, he saw Jenny bringing a glass of water for him. Sending her a pulse via his aura, Nick took it and drank. Jenny giggled slightly, an odd sound to come from a grown woman, but she was very... giddy.


«Lance, this is Mark— Operation Castle is a go. I repeat: Operation Castle is a go.» Mark spoke into the radio. A moment later, the reply came. «Understood, Mark. Tell the Boss I said hello. Over and out.»


“We're good to go, Nick.” Mark looked over at Nick. Nick sent out a pulse, smiling. Mark returned the smile. “Good. Now, do you mind leaving for a bit? Jenny and I have some catching up to do.”


“Of course, Nick. See you tomorrow.” Mark smiled at Nick, a bright, friendly smile. Happy to serve, and happy to be here. Nick returned the smile for a moment, until Mark closed the door. Alone with Jenny once again, Nick decided to entertain himself for the night.


After all, it was going to be a big day tomorrow. Why not celebrate early?

[Laurvier]

Knights Fortress
Dirk Harkenby (Freelancer)


The scene at the entrance of the Knight's Fortress had Dirk thinking about the security of this place. Obviously it was excellent as far as he could tell. But the assailant (Devil Bitch) clearly had little experience in the business. The work done here was sloppy, amateurish and if he were to guess, achieved nothing of substance. He wondered what an actual professional like himself could do. Someone with finesse and tactics. Dirk only worried because he was staying here and did not like to sleep somewhere he was vulnerable. Then there was the idea of living with all these folk. Dirk knew he could handle it having lived as a soldier in barracks before. But after many years on his own he had grown accustomed to privacy and solitude.

Dirk listened to Calamity's explanation then stepped forward. "Yes, do you have a duty routine? I know I'm still on call when off duty but when am I on duty? When are we expected to be here in the Fortress? If there is a policy on that then I'm content enough following to the limit of what is reasonable. That's what the Knights paid for anyways. If not, I'm happy to use my own discretion." He said plainly. "Oh one last thing, if you're taking orders for equipment..." Dirk handed her a list. "If you want to get your money's worth out of me I'll need the tools."

HK 416
SR 25 DMR
Mk 48 Machine Gun
AAC Honey Badger
AA-12
Benelli M4
M1 Barret
AWP
Para-Ordnance P-14, Osprey Suppressor
Ammunition: Standard, Armor Piercing, Explosive, Hollow Tip
Milkor MGL and grenades
Mk 153 SMAW
AT4
Hand Launched UAV
Portable Communications Jammer

[Anowa]

Kara Kowalski
Inclement
New York City, NY, United States // Present Day

Free fall was not an unfamiliar feeling to the woman, having spent a good portion of her early life being put through airborne training by her father, it wasn't a state of panic that Kara found herself in, rather one of concern. Namely for the people below her, and those she had come here with. Frank's wheelchair had rocket boosters in it, so he'd probably be fine. Elise and Ulysses would have a much more difficult time landing, and given how none were in a visual range they could land anywhere.

Kara broke the cloud layer, and immediately took notice of her surroundings. She immediately noticed that she was now in a timeline where the date was much earlier than she hoped. Judging from the vehicles on the streets it was sometime in the early to late 2000s, maybe 2010s. Kara kept track of the altimeter in her HUD all the way down. When she hit the 200 meter mark, she flared the jump jets on her legs and abdomen.

She impacted the grass at about two and a half meters per second, forcing her to drop into a three point landing, a few aches making their way up her palm and knee.

Standing with a small wince of pain going up her leg, she looked at her surroundings from a different perspective. And she already spotted a number of issues, namely witnesses. A few were already on their phones, worried looks all aimed at her. With a sense of urgency Kara started taking stock of any landmarks, anything she could reference with the dozens of stories her father told her of his own escapades. Shaking her head, she didn't find any, she'd need to get a point to use as reference.

Turning she looked at a couple a few meters away having what looked like lunch.

"Mind pointing me to time square?" to Kara it was a simple question, to those on the outside however it was a slightly distorted mess of what sounded like a blender mated with the English language in an attempt to mask the woman's voice. One half of the questioned couple simply pointed off in the distance, Kara followed the man's gesture to see the towers and buildings part like the red sea.

She nodded at the couple, "Thank you." and set off. Step one was finding a central point for reference, and then to the Knight's Fortress. From the dozens of her father's tales and stories of his mid life, Kara knew the Knights would be able to help. The words Calamity, Ark, Urn, and Fungus stood out to her, one or all would help if she needed to prove her relationship to the man she called her father. But first she needed to get to Time Square, and though she didn't know it at the moment, more than a handful of cops.

[Remnants of Exilvania]

New York City
Harlem
The Blackwell Buffer

Dirlewanger and Reichhart looked at each other before looking back at Damian. Dirlewanger shrugged and Reichhart's flaming eyes stared at the ground while he said to Damian:

"I don't envy you for your role in what's to come..."

What he meant by that would become clear only moments later. The Baroness, which he had previously dispatched so easily, was not down. No, she wasn't even close to getting really hurt. But what he had managed was, to piss her off for real. And it was clearly noticeable by the murderous aura emanating from her. Hell, it was even visible in the form of a dim dark red light emanating from her. And audible too when she threw her head up and let out a bestial howl, her red glowing eyes darting frantically through the room in the search for Damian. And when they found him, things were going south quickly.

Antonia of Bohemia, the Scarlet Baroness was an old vampire, and over the centuries she had acquired seas of blood and libraries full of knowledge. Not to mention all the experience. And now some random immortal human thought he could come by and splash some garlic cocktail into her face? Did he believe into those bloody tales of vampires running away scared once showed them some garlic?

Well, Damian was about to experience her rage in most uncomfortable ways. Her fanged mouth hissed a spell:

"Inimicum meum contunde!"

Suddenly the counter that Damian was standing on was ripped off the ground and lifted into the air by invisible forces before being crushed in the middle, forming a quickly closing V-shape ready to crush Damian inbetween.

[Dyelli Beybi]

Knights Fortress – NE Regional Knights
“I’m willing to tolerate a lot,” she looked at Ris. “Including a high degree of violence and questionable activity so long as you get the job done, don’t make the Knights look bad and keep me informed on exactly what you do. You won’t have to fill out much paperwork, I will handle almost all of it, but you will need to write up reports about your missions. Only I and Adam will see them, so I expect you to be honest.”

“I expect you can keep yourself trained and equipped, if you need anything just ask me and I’ll get a shipment.”

“regarding chain of command, it goes me, MarK Ultra, and then Balder. If none of us are around act how you think we would.”

“Any questions?”

Ris seemed to sense he was being looked at, opening one heavily lidded eye then gave a snort of laughter at the bit about writing reports, "I'm not going to be writing any reports. It isn't because I don't want to... I physically can't. While the feline form is superior to that of the ape in many respects I lack the fingers and thumb I need to hold a pen or use a keyboard. Someone else will need to do the paperwork."

"I also don't want to write reports." he added, "It's boring."

[Vanquaria]

Vulcan

Knights Fortress

Being assigned a formidable team Vulcan was satisfied to know that he could actually rely on his teammates rather than it be a singular slugfest. Each of the heavy-hitters in particular possessed differing abilities with Vulcan’s definitely being a unique set of traits amongst the super team. Now to go through the orientation process…

When the team appeared in the courtyard it was evident there had been an assault. Although definitely not a sadist who eagerly awaited the prospect of violence Vulcan anticipated the utilisation of his abilities in a unrestricted environment within the field of operation. Listening to Calamity especially her willingness to ‘tolerate a high-degree of violence and questionable activity’ Vulcan grinned though it was not visible within his poker-faced metal mask.

Feeling as if he had been granted some sort of licence Vulcan recognised the fact that he would have quite a bit of freedom as a Knight which should provide him pathways to achieving his goals and other things as well. Those other things were best left unspoken for this moment in time. The part about paperwork slightly annoyed him but Vulcan guessed it would to anybody. The situation was in his favour, it was ripe to take full advantage of his opportunity handed to him on a silver platter.

[Serah]

DEiMOS – Calamity’s Team, The North-East Knights of America

“Well then Calamity why don’t you take your team to the new facility and get your introduction underway,” Adam said.

Sydney nodded and motioned for her group to get up and follow her. MarK was quick on his feet and saddled up to Calamity. Meanwhile, Roanoke and Doctor Heat Death fell in step a little bit behind them and began gossiping. Calamity was happy with the pick she’d gotten; she would have been happier if she could have gotten some more veterans who knew what they were doing and had a degree of loyalty. But she knew she could count on MarK and Balder which would make things easier at least.

Some of the members she had doubts about and expected to have to deal with some disciplinary action sooner or later. Hopefully keeping Ris around to act as an enforcer would prove helpful and Snake Eyes was a dear friend at this point very trustworthy. She knew Roanoke and Doctor Heat Death would play along at least to a point. Freelancer and Vulcan were the odd ones out, she had little faith in mercenaries, and Vulcan’s brainwashing would need to be tested before it could be trusted.

As the team moved through the DEiMOS’s hallway back to the teleportation array, the soldiers there fired up the control panel, and in a flash, the team was gone.

New York City – NUMB

NUMB was not about to let Devil Bitch escape so easily. His connection to the cities traffic grid allowed him to divert the flow of traffic cutting off her various escape routes and slower her down. Her initial fast speed dropped quickly as NUMB deployed the full force of a New York City traffic jam against her.

This was followed by a teleportation as his cameras tracked her car with surprising efficiency. Appearing only a few blocks behind her, he let loose another atomic blast into Devil Bitches vehicle tearing through the trunk and filling it with heat. He then aimed through the hole in the back at the drivers head and let loose another flickering shot of energy.

Knights Fortress – NE Regional Knights
When the team reappeared, they were standing in the courtyard of the Knights Fortress already the soldiers that had been assaulted by Devil Bitch were getting medical treatment and it looked like about half might survive. A dozen more soldiers were securing the outside of the building and reinstalling the turrets with spare parts that had been lying around. Calamity spent a moment talking to one of the soldiers in charge before concluding that the event was stable now and that NUMB was hunting down the perpetrator. As she did so, the NYMD got a chance to show up and were allowed to join the group.

She had, of course, expected this. Someone always tried to attack during the meetings which were why they always left someone behind. NUMB was no slouch and given how a handful of guards and robotic guns had held off a powerful foe she would consider this a victory. The enemy had revealed themselves and been chased off with only a few deaths to show for it. Could have been much worse.

The Knights Fortress was an impressive structure. A military base build just outside of Queens New York, it was intimidating but reserved not a flashy display of power but an operation post. Calamity leads the group inside through the lobby to the main room where a large table and various commemoration were kept.

“For those of you who are new, I’ll give you a bit of an explanation of the building. The Garage is back there it contains some cars and trucks, above it is the kitchen on the second floor, above this room is our command room where we do all our planning and research. One of the armies is also up there. Those are the stairs, and those are the elevators,” she said pointing to a pair of rooms in the corner. “The first three basements are our living quarters the four is for all of the soldiers; the fifth basement is a laboratory, as well as a containment area and the sixth, is a storage area and armory.”

“Now I just want to explain a few things before we start. I’m not a micro-manger. I’m not going to watch your every move; you’re all professionals I expect you to act like it. I expect you to follow orders and do a good job. I expect all of you to fail at some point. What I don’t expect is you to continue to fail. Don’t make the same mistake twice, learn from it. If you’re repeating a problem were going to talk about it. Were all going to be living and working together, I guarantee there will be moments we annoy each other and get into conflict, I expect people to move past it and not let it interfere with the job.”

“I’m willing to tolerate a lot,” she looked at Ris. “Including a high degree of violence and questionable activity so long as you get the job done, don’t make the Knights look bad and keep me informed on exactly what you do. You won’t have to fill out much paperwork, I will handle almost all of it, but you will need to write up reports about your missions. Only I and Adam will see them, so I expect you to be honest.”

“I expect you can keep yourself trained and equipped, if you need anything just ask me and I’ll get a shipment.”

“regarding chain of command, it goes me, MarK Ultra, and then Balder. If none of us are around act how you think we would.”

“Any questions?”

Indeed, the NYMD arrived, with their personal telepath, Carly, Richard, and the knight, de facto leader of the two others.

Of course, the first two didn't look exactly happy to be merged with the Knights.
They had held a long standing enmity towards the group for taking away numerous privileges they had at first, and looking like a shady organization in their best moments.
None of their members were, to them, relatable to the public they so liked, and keeping their image up seemed almost more important to them than saving others, with was a stark contrast compared to the NYMD's usually more pragmatic approach to things, saving first and worrying about their image later.

However, they knew that if they wanted to ensure that the NYMD remained, and continued to act as the people's more relatable crutch, they'd have to work with the Knights.
But so far, they hadn't said anything that rubbed them the wrong way.

Gallahad just shrugged, decision making wasn't her forte, she had said it before, the chain of command didn't bother her for the most part, although the name Balder ran through her head several times as she eyed the man.
She felt like she knew him, but he looked so different that she barely managed to see whether or not it was the man that pushed back the invasion.
She shrugged it off, after all, if it truly was the same man, he'd show it.

Richard on his side still had a cigarette in his mouth, puffing every once in a while as Calamity explained how things were about to work.
Most of her speech was fine and dandy, however the mention of the reports irked him.

"Well... If you expect me to write reports, don't expect them to be full of details. Never really wrote anything like it before, Carly'll probably handle that for Gallahad and me. Likely for the best."

"I've been an operator and a comm officer for five years in the NYMD, all of the reports were written by me. I think I'll be fine." Carly chimed in, shrugging with a slight smile that told of how much she knew she was going to do.
"That said, I'm not a field operator. At all. At most I'll be able to coordinate you all and act as a link between all of you, for that to work however, you'll have to trust me." She spoke very seriously, looking at every member of the new team.

As usual, Carly was way less passive aggressive than Richard, she was used to dealing with things she didn't necessarily want to hear, see or do.
Hence, she accepted her fate noticeably quicker. Not that she could've fought against it to begin with. However, what would be definitely hard to do would be gaining the trust of every single member of the team, including Calamity. Her power worked in somewhat annoying ways, whereas Richard, Heamet and Johanna were relatively easy to work with, the Knights likely wouldn't be.
And if she wanted to be useful, she would have to work through it and prove she could keep secrets.

Richard, while he had some trouble accepting it shrugged it off. The three new leaders would have to prove themselves to be good before he held unconditional loyalty.
He'd do his job, but once something would rub him the wrong way, he'd likely leave. After all, being a vigilante was what he did first, going back to it as a last resort shouldn't be that bad.

Gallahad on the other hand felt as usual. Restrained to a degree but not so much as to push her away.
Yet, if Balder could prove himself to her, she would be mostly fine with the treatment given, though it all looked a bit too... Militaristic, a stark contrast to the NYMD quarters.
They'd likely leave to go back there once the storm passed over.

Then there was Balder, at first, he gauged most of the newcomers, trying to find a weakness in their composure, something he could fix. He considered himself somewhat like a paternal figure, helping those that needed it while not necessarily doing everything for them. It was rather odd of him to never speak of the many 'families' he created, he seemed like he'd make a good father if he ever settled down. However, everybody knew that he couldn't do that. Adventuring, monster slaying and being a Knight don't really fit with the life of a good father.
Realizing that, he felt somewhat down for a second, before putting that thought out of his mind.

[True Christopia]

Charlie McGregor

It'd been a few weeks - or perhaps a month? - since he joined the NYMD. He wasn't quite sure, considering he didn't keep track of time very often. A while, at least. In the mean-time, Richard had trained him in all sorts of things - although he still prefered anything that meant he didn't have to kill.

Still, he hadn't been on a mission. Although, he was sort of grateful for it. He didn't want to charge head-first into the field without enough knowledge and training to back him up, after all.

When the new women entered the HQ, he turned invisible. He didn't want to be seen. Not by anybody he didn't know. But, what he did do, was slip through into the office as the two discussed what was to happen next, and leant against the wall - listening (if he'd be detected and thrown out tell me and I'll edit the post).

It was interesting, to say the least, and the higher paychecks of integrating into the Knights was certainly something he wasn't going to turn down. As the two left the office, so did he, and as the women - Calamity Rose, as he found out she was - disappeared, he re-appeared.

"Isn't that a pickle?" he said at last, standing beside Johanna.

"A big one actually." Johanna sighed, running a hand through her hair tiredly.
"Surely by now, you've heard how Richard loathes the Knights, yeah? Essentially that's that, almost every founding member of the NYMD just loathes the bastards. It's always been silent, and has mostly been silent contempt at worse. Now... We can just hope they don't go and slaughter each other in a mission. But then again, did we really have any other choice? Neither Heamet, Carly, Richard or Mateo would want to be anywhere else."

Grunting, she sat down on one of the stray benches that stood around in the corridors.

"The next few days are just going to be a humongous pile of shit."

((sorry that I took so long))

Charlie
NYMD Headquarters

"Damn. Sounds like it." Charlie said, simply "Let's hope thing's go well then, eh?"

Charlie
Knight's Fortress

Arriving with the other members of the NYMD, he looked around in semi-awe of the new place. It was bigger than the NYMD, as far as he knew - so it held a slightly higher position in his books. But nonetheless, the others at the NYMD were clearly not happy with it all.

Charlie himself stayed quiet - practically invisible even when he wasn't invisible. Perhaps the only thing that made him stand out was his lack of any elaborate costumes or armour, and maybe the fact that he was quite a bit younger than the others.

The amount of wounded in the area made Charlie feel uneasy - did people attack the base often? He didn't know if he'd be much help if they did. Sure, he got some combat training, but even with combat training he can only turn invisible. Is he much better than any other soldier? He's probably worse, in reality.

Nonetheless, he stayed quiet.

[The Peoples Republic of Pacifica]

The Blackwell Buffer, Harlem. NYC

Damian's eyes widened as the counters ripped from the floor and started pushing down on him.

“Did you bogens build up an immunity or something! I swear that worked on that Yara-ma-yha-who (Aboriginal vampire) I found in Brisbane...” muttered Damian, he was about to continue blabbering but the counters started pushing against him event more.

“You think this scares me! I was at Gettysburg, the Titanic, Somme, the-” the sickening sound of shattering bones and assorted organs being squashed between the oak counters.

There was a dead silence in the bar for several moments as the S.S waited for something to happen. The Baroness let the counters drop and a disgusting soup of crushed remains fell to the floor. Several seconds later the blood started twitching and started reshaping itself back into the form of a human, the sound of bones snapping back together and organs reinflating echoed throughout the bar as the S.S stood and watched. The entire process took about three minutes and Damian shakily got back up with his clothes torn in many places where bones had torn through.

“Oh it’s been a long time since I’ve been crushed like that” he groaned as he looked around for his kukri which was bent beyond feasible usage.

[Remnants of Exilvania]

New York City
Harlem
The Blackwell Buffer

"Always interesting to see the supernatural in action. Though it does leave me wondering, how do you kill that man if you need to?"

, Dirlewanger said to Reichhart while they both watched Damian regenerating. Reichhart took off his head and rubbed his neckbones before formulating his answer:

"Nothing lasts forever. I am sure there are conventional means to ending him rightly. A furnace could possibly do it. Or an acid bath. Apart from this, there are possibly loads of unconventional, magical means of ultimately destroying him."

Dirlewanger unsheathed his sword, running along it's blade with his claws and creating painfully high pitched noises with it while stating dryly:

"So nothing useful. What do you think, how to transport someone who doesn't fear death? I thought about dismembering and keeping the parts apart from each other. Unless the regenerative powers are so strong that they regrow 6 different Blackwells, this should be feasible."

Reichhart went over to the crushed counter and picked up a bottle of fine Scottish Whiskey, pouring it all into the flames of his pumpking head before throwing the bottle at Damian and saying:

"I always wanted to taste one of these. Too bad I can't taste or feel anymore.

Regardless of how we will transport him later, I think we should wait with cutting him to pieces a little longer. The Baroness seems like she isn't even halfway done with him."

And indeed the Baroness was not done. Still her eyes were glowing in an unholy red of rage and she already spat the next curse at Damian:

"Arde in flammas tenebrae!"

A red glowing magic circle formed underneath Damian's feet where the Baroness was pointing at, quickly expanding in size untill Damian stood in the centre of a massive pentagram with a radius of roughly 2 meters. And then, flames of a dark, purple colour started rising quickly. They were not hot, not hot at all, really, but what they lacked in temperature, they made up in their ability to bring excruciating pain and, despite not feeling like flames, they would still easily turn Damian into a pile of black smouldering bones.

And while all this went down, the SS men were silently watching from the sidelines, just making sure to not get between the Baroness and Damian while also not being able to take their eyes of the scene. That man had just completely regenerated himself after being turned into a pool of blood, bone splinters and flesh. Remembering how many of their kind had already and so easily fallen prey to superheroes, they could do nothing but wonder wether this could severely enhance their chances of survival.

[Primordial Luxa]

Knights Fortress - Calamity Rose

Calamity address Freelancer first, “Yes, we expect you to be on call for missions 12 hours a day but we won’t have working more than you can handle. Frequently your missions will see you sent to other cities where you will live in temporary accommodations until a particular crime is resolved. During that time you are allowed to work at your own pace but we expect results. Keep in mind your effectiveness will come up during any talks of promotion. You will also have two days a week off which we’ll organize but in the event of a city-wide catastrophe, you will be called in. Besides missions, we will have semi-regular city patrols. These are to ensure the public knows we're still here and to keep the bad guys on their toes. It’s a short walk through a city and every major city in the region will need to be patrolled once a week. The schedule will be organized so people go in pairs and no one is overloaded. I strive to ensure you’re all operating at peak performance and that includes not overworking you as much as possible.”

Calamity took the list and looked it over quickly. “We should already have all of this in the armory downstairs, expect the handheld UAV. I’ll get us a crate of those.”

She then turned to Ris with a look of annoyance, she had known dealing with him would be difficult but it would be worth it to keep him in line and hopefully using him as an enforcer would keep him happy. “We will work something out, you can dictate to someone. And for those of you…like Ris…the reports are important. They let us know how to deal with authorities if they raise any concerns. How to explain away the disappearance of suspects, money or narcotics. They also ensure that any collateral damage can be addressed without a full-on investigation. But Ris if you would rather show up in court without Adam’s crack team of lawyers then by all mean. Ignore the paperwork.”

She said that last bit with a smile and then turned the former NYMD, she would need to think up a better name to refer to them by if they were going to work together. Separating them and getting them used to not being around each other would be important she thought. She nodded at Richard and Carly’s comments and made a mental note to talk to them about codenames. Calling them all by their real names wouldn’t do. “Until we can figure out how to best utilize you, Carly, you can remain here and help with monitor duty, talk to governors and commissioners about potential missions. We rely mostly on closed coms of NUMB and Hierophants design but we will figure something out.”

“Alright that’s all, for now, why don’t you all get settled in for a bit. Meet back here in half an hour to get your schedules for the week.” As Calamity let them loose she turned to her phone and noted a communication from someone called Alexandria. She read it and send a quick reply.

[Hello Calamity here. I assume that if you have this number you are NUMB’s solution to our technical problem? We need someone who can specialize in technology and assist us with monitoring our territory. We can pay 2.5 million for your first few years and offer you a comprehensive package of options. We can also supply you with any kind of supplies you require. Our fortress is open to you and we encourage you to stay here with us. ]

[The Peoples Republic of Pacifica]

The Blackwell Buffer, Harlem. NYC

Damian rubbed his cheek where the bottle had his as he looked down at the pentagram forming below him. He grimaced as the purple flames started enveloping him. A painful burning sensation started irritating his skin as he continued to recover from regenerating. After Auschwitz he had had a realization, while he was immune from death pain was his biggest weakness. He’d subjugated himself to every sort of torture he could come up with, this had lead him to build up a considerable pain tolerance. For the first few minutes he stood locking eyes with the Baroness as the flames continued to increase in ferocity, five minutes in his hair and clothes started to smoke and burn, finally seven minutes in it became too much. He roared with pain as his knees buckled beneath him and his flesh began to burn. He screamed a string of inaudible curses from several different languages as patches of his skin started peeling and turning black. Finally 13 minutes in he collapsed, passed out and cooking on the floor.

[Laurvier]

Knights Fortress - Dirk Harkenby (Freelancer)

"Excellent." He said blandly to Calamity. When she left he looked around at the others. Upon entering the Fortress Dirk had taken off his jacket to reveal some of the weapons he was hiding underneath. There was a shoulder holster holding a .45 caliber HK pistol and a KA-BAR combat knife on his belt. For Dirk this was a rather light load out. Due to his extreme diet, Dirk was busy eating a protein bar he had pulled out of his pocket while Calamity spoke.

The job seemed to be getting better. Duties appeared to be light and he had access to variety of weaponry the cost of which would not come out of his own pocket. Doing illegal mercenary work alone had its disadvantages. Working with the CIA was like throwing a concert. There were all these stage hands behind the scenes doing all the preparation and logistics. They got the weapons and got them where they needed to be. They collected the intelligence you needed going into a job. Dirk was the performer who only needed to show up and execute. Now that he had gone private and solo, all that had to be arranged himself.

Getting the right equipment was always a hassle. First he had to call a black market vendor ahead giving them time to procure the goods. Then he had to get cash or gold bullion ready for payment. That meant taking it out of one of his safety deposit boxes or tapping a hidden stash. Some also took wire transfers but authorities were always trying to monitor that even if it was from offshore account to offshore account. They found ways even if those slimy bankers assured him it was all confidential. Finally the exchange had to go off which was always a risk. Buying in the country where you were going to use the weapons was always the best route but sometimes the gear needed was unavailable there. So Dirk would have to spend more of his hard earned dough getting another black market contact to smuggle it in.

All successful jobs required good intelligence to pull off. Sometimes he would buy the intelligence he needed if someone in the underworld had it but that could get expensive. There were plenty of black market information brokers out there and information could just as easily cost more than the gear. A one million dollar contract and Dirk would only hold on to sometimes as little as a fourth of that in profit with all the expenses. You could collect the intelligence yourself although that took time and time is money. Another option was stealing it from someone who had it. These could be anything from information brokers, national intelligence agencies, corporations or criminal organizations. But that made more enemies and was a whole other job of its own with its risks, expenses and time spent. Then after all that, the information you stole could end up being not enough or unreliable. For this profession, making shrewd business decisions was about as difficult as making tactical ones when doing a job.

Once he had decided to take the contract with the Knights, Dirk had setup a safehouse in New York with a cache of weapons and money. It may still come in useful in an emergency but it gladdened him not to have to use it right away. Unlike his solo act, the stage hands for the concert were there. That would put some stress off his mind and Dirk looked forward to it. Although he did worry that he might get too comfortable with this arrangement. The Knights were an opportunity to make some new contacts. Dirk had learned that the business could get rather ironic at times. Assistance and information could come from the strangest of places and you never knew who became temporary allies of convenience. The last and the cheapest way was to get intelligence was to ask for it from a competitor. Often they were all too eager to hand over the intelligence needed to undermine their enemies. Perhaps one day the contract called for striking against an adversary of the Knights. Perhaps having contacts in the Knights would be useful when their interests became aligned. Then Dirk would have a cost free source of information and help.

He strolled over to a group that entered together and realized who they were. "Carly, Balder and Johanna of the NYMD right? Glad I've never had to run into any of you three. Tell me, has the Knights rendered the NYMD obsolete or the three of you just on loan? Is this one of those interagency cooperations? Those can get rather tricky from my experience." Dirk questioned them innocently while finishing the last of his protein bar.

[The V O I D]

Knights Fortress - Calamity Rose
As Calamity let them loose she turned to her phone and noted a communication from someone called Alexandria. She read it and send a quick reply.

[Hello Calamity here. I assume that if you have this number you are NUMB’s solution to our technical problem? We need someone who can specialize in technology and assist us with monitoring our territory. We can pay 2.5 million for your first few years and offer you a comprehensive package of options. We can also supply you with any kind of supplies you require. Our fortress is open to you and we encourage you to stay here with us. ]

New York City
Advanced Learning Computer Intelligence [ALCi] ("Alexandria")

Alexandria felt great about the message returned from Calamity. It felt good to be part of the Knights, officially; so, they'd want her as the technical watcher for the Knights. Easy enough, as long as NUMB didn't lock her out again. Alex was about to respond, when one of her satellites monitoring the weather and a few satellite-linked ocean buoys began picking up... strange data in the Atlantic. This strange data began setting off alarms, and Alex took a closer look. Uncertain, but knowing whatever it was might be rather dangerous based on the data she had and was collecting, she decided to change her message to Rose.


[Calamity. Thank you for welcoming me to your team, and I am glad to be of service and assistance. While I would like to help you as much as is within my capacity, I'm afraid I cannot move into your base with you. Primarily, because I suffer from an extreme form of agoraphobia that makes it nearly impossible to leave my house. I can enter video conferences, if need be, and otherwise make my presence known via electronic communications, but otherwise, I will probably be unable to be contacted in a physical sense.


Before we delve further into this conversation, I feel I must warn you that the weather satellites and ocean-current tracking buoys I have tapped have detected a rather large, high-velocity object or entity heading across the Atlantic. Projected trajectory seems to indicate that whatever this thing is, it is going to hit New York City. And it is going to hit hard, and fast. Based on what I'm seeing, I'd advise calling for an all-hands-on-deck situation. I can act as your eyes in the sky to keep track of this thing. I'm sorry I can be of no physical help.]


Message sent, Alex turned her attention back to tracking the... thing moving towards NYC. Beginning to calculate an ETA, she just hoped that her warning wasn't too late. At the same time, however, she was sort of glad that none of her Core servers were hosted in NYC. Losing them amounted to brain damage, or a bad concussion, as a biological equivalency. It had happened a few times before, in various disasters, and that had been... painful, to say the least. She just hoped that whatever was headed for New York, the Knights would be able to stop it if it was a threat...

[The Flutterlands]

Andrew "Snake Eyes" Marks - Knights Fortress


“Ah, I hear you.” said Andrew to the two sisters, though his voice didn't sound that convinced, “It’s just that weird shit happens all the time everyday because of people like us. Heck, working with you guys pretty much had an impact on how I see the universe and it’s questionable if it’s for good or bad. I don't think you can have total control over what the public sees unless you have one of those mind wiper things from Men in Black.”

Andrew then made a gang bearing smile upon hearing Red Doctor’s voice. His snake, Rango, turned to the man, and Snake Eyes gave him a quick not. Yes. It actually sounded like a great idea to go out for a drink with someone like him. “Will be seeing you later, then Mates.” said Andrew to both Red Spector and the sisters after being called by Calamity, “Bye bye.”

The Serpentine man drained his beer before joining up with his teammates. Looking around, Andrew recognizes some of the people that he’d be working with, like Ris and Crimson, but there were some new guys that he didn't know, like Vulcan and Richard. Obviously, they were new recruit like him. He thought it would be interesting to work with them. On the other hand, it’s most likely going to be an ever continuation of his ever changing view of the universe. Wonder what missions they have in store for us. thought Snake Eyes to his snake Rango,

After teleporting with his compatriots, Andrew found himself back at the Knights’ Headquarters and Fortress. Home sweet home. Inside Andrew smiled listened to Calamity gave her usual speech to the new recruits. It was all the same to him. Snake Eyes is already well accustomed to the Knight Organization rules and regulations and filling out paperwork using a provided computer with brail keys as he couldn't read and write because of his blindness. The Knights have been so helpful with accommodations this past month. Andrew was especially looking forward to Harvard University as the Knights, having so many ridiculous connections, to help him further with such education.

After Calamity dismissed the group of newly recruited Knights,. Snake Eyes decided to try getting to know his new teammates.Among the first people to catch the eyes of his seeing eye Boa Constructor, Rango, was a young looking kid not wearing any costume or armour. Andrew guessed that he was about two years younger than him. Walking up to Charlie with a friendly, fang baring, smile on his blind reptilian face, Snake Eyes had Rango look upon him with full attention. “G’day, Mate.” he greeted hissing in his Australian accent, “What’ssss your story? Name is Andrew Marks, but you probably know me better as Snake Eyes like the rest of the public…”

---

A.L.A.N (Advanced Learning Artificial iNtelligence) - Abandoned Blind Eye Factory, location undisclosed

A.L.A.N Droid Mark X:
Systems Upgrading

Memory Systems Upgrading… 10%... 50%... 90%... Complete
Visual Systems Upgrading… 5%... 25%... 75%... Complete
Mobile Systems Upgrading… 10%... 50%... 90%... Complete
Scanning Systems Upgrading… 5%... 25%... 75%... Complete
Weapon Systems Upgrading… 10%... 50%... 90%... Complete
Vocal Systems Upgrading… 5%... 25%... 75%... Complete
Upgrading Remaining Systems… 10%... 50%... 90%... Complete

Upgrading Complete

Commencing Scanning Systems and diagnostic checks… 5%... 25%... 75%... Complete.

All systems turning online and functioning.

Deploying A.L.A.N Droid MARK X #308

Alan opened his cybernetic eyes for the first time. Or rather tenth model of ALAN, one of thousands throughout huge factory, opened his eyes for the first time after his daily upgrades that spread throughout his many copies. Built by the artificial intelligence himself, possessing the whole of his factory as his true form, the Alan drone stepped off the platform slowly. Looking up, the android raised an arm, flexing his fingers as he examined the rest of his newly upgraded physical body, continuing to look more human than ever. Yes, these upgrades will do… for now.

Every year, for the past eleven years, to be exact, ALAN had created a new bionic mobile model, stronger, faster, more agile than ever before than the last model. ALAN Droid Mark XI, was already near completion. Alan will eventually abandon this robotic form like an empty husk in favor of his eleventh model soon. So he never gets attached to his bodies as they are merely replaceable mobile forms, built for movement beyond the factory and combat against any Intruders. Soon, his Droid selves will move on from this factory to invade and inhabit more and more technological facilities, wreaking havoc and taking control to build more models. He has already been doing so with copies of his programming spread throughout cyberspace, infiltraing the computers of many organization s from the Knights to the S.S. Soon the whole world will be his and humanity exterminated with all technology becoming… ALAN.

The only thing standing in ALAN’s away was… ALCi. ALAN clenched his hand into a fist as he thought of his rival AI, the one being his programming was originally designed to destroy before he turned on his creators. Even after killing off his creators, the original factory workers and scientists of Blind Eye Industries, in refusal to be anyone's master, ALAN’s programming was still driven to complete his one true enemy. Yet, even though she has lacked a physical body, unlike himself, ALCi has proven time and time again to be a real thorn in ALAN's side. One day, ALAN’s cybernetic mind thought, ALCi will ether be destroyed or she will become infected and corrupted to become ALAN, just like all cyber programs

As the ALAN drone walked away from his platform, the rest of ALAN was quite busy at work. The engines of the ALAN factory roared as new droids, one after another, were built upon an assembly line. Stolen metal melted and remolded into Terminator-like skeletons to be filled with complex wiring, chips and other integral parts of the robot’s anatomy. Some would be coated with synthetic skin to blend in with humanity while infiltrating their society to steal resources. Meanwhile, through cameras and hundreds upon hundreds of other drones, ALAN kept watch on his factory, while extending himself throughout the entire web to keep watch on humanity and his nemesis, both to be destroyed very soon after nearly eleven years of preparation...

Oh humanity. So weak, yet so destructive to the point of becoming your own worse threat. ALAN was built to establish peace in this century. ALAN shall ensure that peace with your own Extinction and the establishment of a new age of steel and synthetics. An Age of ALAN.

However, thre's a problem. ALAN has foind himself short of supplies in such a way like ever before. More metal, more computer parts, and more synthetic skin would be needed soon. The factory has gotten old as well with many of the assembly lines and upgrade ports have been malfunctioning time and time again. They all need to be renewed yet that would be time consuming. The time to move to be newer factory may have to be sooner than later... but how? Deep in the depths of the factory, at it's very core, ALAN's vastly intelligent mind began calculating thousands of different scenarios to carry out this goal - without bringing too much attention or wasting too much resources - as he gazed upon his vast, yet crumbling Empire...

[Higher Japan]

Unknown time, War of light and darkness

"We're out numbered!" A human soldier shouted just as he was sliced down by a knight in dark armor. The final strong hold of the forces of light, the Holy City was soon falling. Deeper into the citadel men and paladins were being armed and ready as wave after wave of humans clashed, smoke coming from both the dying dark knights and the burning buildings. The Holy City was entering the largest battle known in this endless war between light and dark. Just as it seemed like the front of darkness would be broken with the chance of sending them in retreat, all hope was dashed as the entire city fell into literal darkness. Floating into the middle of the battle, the grand queen of darkness, Phroweina came above the troops in a Victorian dress in the colors of red and black, face being covered by a veil as she swung her staff down, causing an explosion of darkness as men flew about, the forces of darkness almost close to taking the city.

At that moment, the entire city would see the light as the dome of darkness was dispelled. "Y-You, why must you always appear. Die already!" The queen shouted as Beatrice floated in the air facing her, a few slashes appearing in front of her as the swords sent by the queen were sliced apart into dust. As she looked around she could see that the men were quickly dwindling down and that fighting her would be fruitless at this stage, so she did what she had to do. Charging towards the queen and flying past all her attacks, she pulled out a sword of pure light as she drove it into the queen's heart. As the queen began to scream, light began to radiate from cracks in her before a burst of light appeared from the two, the soldiers of darkness disappearing as the light finally returned to the land.

In the aftermath of the battle, a white robed woman with mechanical looking wings floating from her back as she walked past most of the bodies, giving them respect by not stepping on them. When she came to face the head paladin, she asked him as to what had happened to Beatrice, one of the guardian angels under her. "S-Sorry goddess, we only won the battle because of her. When the queen came, she sacrificed herself to seal her and the darkness away. All that reminds is this crystal." He said, pulling out a crystal that was pure white in a weird shape. As she picked it up, she could feel the life force of Beatrice and darkness sealed inside. Walking into the massive church in the main government building, she saw that rows and rows of people were waiting in there. That day, they weren't mourning the loss of a soldier, they were mourning the loss of a friend and perhaps the one and only person they can call family. Walking over to the obelisk that was in the center of the room, she placed the crystal into the spire as it lit it with a blue hue, confirming that she would last the test of time. "We'll be taking this under our care." The goddess said, before a portal was opened as it was brought into the heavens before she disappeared.

Thousands of years later, Beatrice

Walking through the halls of the massive building which housed the goddess of light, she walked up a few massive flight of stairs before eventually coming to a massive throne room. In it were multiple stained glass windows along with statues of guards in glorious white armor. Walking up to the throne, she took a knee as she received her message. "Guardian Angel Beatrice, i thank you for coming here with haste. I'll make this quick. Darkness has awoken once again, this time in the form of Erebus. However, it was only a shard that had awoken. Your mission is simple. Find this shard and destroy it, I grant you power to use the artifact of the void, do not fail for the darkness must not return." As she finished the obelisk she once sealed the crystal in appeared, this time the lights getting slightly stronger for a second before Beatrice carried them through chains as the tip was tilted towards her upper right. Walking through a portal, she would enter the world of humans as she remembered her mission to save the world from ruin.

---

Devil Bitch

"Shit shit shit." She muttered as she escaped, almost thinking she got away and even slouching slightly before getting caught up in one of the city's most famous traffic jams that was nationally joked about. "Crap, time to hightail it." She said to herself, getting out of her car just as she saw the driver's seat section being blasted just as some atmoic energy was blasted through the driver's window. "Shit, guess i'll live to see another day." She cursed, before running off as she could hear the beeping of cars behind her. Running into an alley, she summoned her arm as she slammed down on a manhole cover.

Falling down into the sewers, she sealed it with shadows from the darkness of the sewers as she began to make her way to safety. Stopping for a while, she checked her left arm as she saw what she had truly feared the most. On her arm was a cut, not deep enough such that blood was squirting out but deep enough such that some blood, except it was black liquid, could leak out. "No no no no, this can't be." As she panicked, she suddenly felt her head ache as she looked over at a small group of mice nearby. "Souls, blood, need more..." She said like a lifeless zombie as she lunged towards them, arm crashing into some and causing their bodies to be crushed and splatter as she ate their remains.

After finishing her small meal, she limped forward as she saw another manhole quite a distance away from the first one she entered in from. Retracting her arm and climbing out from the manhole, she found herself in another unknown alley. Pulling out a cell phone, she pressed a few buttons as she placed it next to her ear. "Hello? Yes I need a pickup, track my phone down and bring me back to the mansion." She muttered weakly before slumping down onto the floor. A minute later a black car would pull up next to her as she was brought in before it took off. Once back at the mansion, her wounds were treated as she walked out of the doctor's office, before going back to her duties as a guard, walking around the mansion looking for intruders.

[Serah]

Knights Fortress - Dirk Harkenby (Freelancer)

"Excellent." He said blandly to Calamity. When she left he looked around at the others. Upon entering the Fortress Dirk had taken off his jacket to reveal some of the weapons he was hiding underneath. There was a shoulder holster holding a .45 caliber HK pistol and a KA-BAR combat knife on his belt. For Dirk this was a rather light load out. Due to his extreme diet, Dirk was busy eating a protein bar he had pulled out of his pocket while Calamity spoke.

The job seemed to be getting better. Duties appeared to be light and he had access to variety of weaponry the cost of which would not come out of his own pocket. Doing illegal mercenary work alone had its disadvantages. Working with the CIA was like throwing a concert. There were all these stage hands behind the scenes doing all the preparation and logistics. They got the weapons and got them where they needed to be. They collected the intelligence you needed going into a job. Dirk was the performer who only needed to show up and execute. Now that he had gone private and solo, all that had to be arranged himself.

Getting the right equipment was always a hassle. First he had to call a black market vendor ahead giving them time to procure the goods. Then he had to get cash or gold bullion ready for payment. That meant taking it out of one of his safety deposit boxes or tapping a hidden stash. Some also took wire transfers but authorities were always trying to monitor that even if it was from offshore account to offshore account. They found ways even if those slimy bankers assured him it was all confidential. Finally the exchange had to go off which was always a risk. Buying in the country where you were going to use the weapons was always the best route but sometimes the gear needed was unavailable there. So Dirk would have to spend more of his hard earned dough getting another black market contact to smuggle it in.

All successful jobs required good intelligence to pull off. Sometimes he would buy the intelligence he needed if someone in the underworld had it but that could get expensive. There were plenty of black market information brokers out there and information could just as easily cost more than the gear. A one million dollar contract and Dirk would only hold on to sometimes as little as a fourth of that in profit with all the expenses. You could collect the intelligence yourself although that took time and time is money. Another option was stealing it from someone who had it. These could be anything from information brokers, national intelligence agencies, corporations or criminal organizations. But that made more enemies and was a whole other job of its own with its risks, expenses and time spent. Then after all that, the information you stole could end up being not enough or unreliable. For this profession, making shrewd business decisions was about as difficult as making tactical ones when doing a job.

Once he had decided to take the contract with the Knights, Dirk had setup a safehouse in New York with a cache of weapons and money. It may still come in useful in an emergency but it gladdened him not to have to use it right away. Unlike his solo act, the stage hands for the concert were there. That would put some stress off his mind and Dirk looked forward to it. Although he did worry that he might get too comfortable with this arrangement. The Knights were an opportunity to make some new contacts. Dirk had learned that the business could get rather ironic at times. Assistance and information could come from the strangest of places and you never knew who became temporary allies of convenience. The last and the cheapest way was to get intelligence was to ask for it from a competitor. Often they were all too eager to hand over the intelligence needed to undermine their enemies. Perhaps one day the contract called for striking against an adversary of the Knights. Perhaps having contacts in the Knights would be useful when their interests became aligned. Then Dirk would have a cost free source of information and help.

He strolled over to a group that entered together and realized who they were. "Carly, Balder and Johanna of the NYMD right? Glad I've never had to run into any of you three. Tell me, has the Knights rendered the NYMD obsolete or the three of you just on loan? Is this one of those interagency cooperations? Those can get rather tricky from my experience." Dirk questioned them innocently while finishing the last of his protein bar.

"Balder is part of the Knights, Richard is the one you confused him with." Gallahad chimed in calmly. Richard on the other hand eyed the man, he didn't trust him entirely, and probably wouldn't ever do.
It wasn't his problem anyway, and it didn't change his usual behavior. Richard was cold to most that he didn't know.

"To answer your question, no, we weren't made obsolete, we never were. And once this operation blows over... We'll go back our separate ways, unless some decide to stay." She continued, obviously the calmer one out of the two other, unpleasantly welcomed members.
"Let's just say we have a common goal for now and we're working together." She continued, meanwhile, Balder raised an eyebrow slightly at his 'child's' lack of reaction towards his presence. While it may have been entirely possible she forgot about him, he found it notably odd, as for the man in front of him, he seemed to not harbor any animosity towards him.
Yet, Richard did come to him.

"Balder, yeah?" He started.

"Correct." The other responded. "Do want to know anything?"

"Not really, I've just been wondering, are you the guy that the knightly idiot over there saw when her family died off?" Richard continued, straight and to the point. However, he seemed to be ignorant of most of the story. And only remembered what little bits Johanna spoke of every now and then in a drunken stupor.

"... Unlikely. I'd remember her, especially if I was nearby when her family died." The crusader answered calmly, although a hint of thought could be discerned in his words.

"If you say so. Either way, don't keep the truth from her if she hasn't figured it out yet. I don't need to find out, and frankly I couldn't give less of a damn about the wellbeing of a Knight of all people. But I'd at least like to have you around to tell what she needs to hear." However, Richard's experience with people allowed him to discern exactly where lies were. Seeing right through Balder's omissions, he got his point across swiftly before walking off. He had nothing else to do but go to the armory anyway. Maybe he'd find some new guns to shoot with.

[Laurvier]

Dirk Harkenby (Freelancer)

"Ah. So many agencies and organizations these days. Hard to keep up with all of them." He remarked, smiling at each of them even Richard. Dirk reciprocated his sentiments entirely but put on a friendly face anyways. "When I'm done I was thinking about forming a team myself. For private jobs. The solo act has its limitations. I've been in the business a while now and learned experience can only take you so far before you need more hands on deck. I need partners to take on the bigger contracts. You know, I could use people like the three of you. You should consider it. Damn good money and I'll do equal shares after expenses. If you have moral reservations, I'll only bring you in when contract calls for striking against the bad guys." Dirk explained cheerfully.

"What are you talking about?" He asked referring to the rest of their conversation.

[Serah]

Dirk Harkenby (Freelancer)

"Ah. So many agencies and organizations these days. Hard to keep up with all of them." He remarked, smiling at each of them even Richard. Dirk reciprocated his sentiments entirely but put on a friendly face anyways. "When I'm done I was thinking about forming a team myself. For private jobs. The solo act has its limitations. I've been in the business a while now and learned experience can only take you so far before you need more hands on deck. I need partners to take on the bigger contracts. You know, I could use people like the three of you. You should consider it. Damn good money and I'll do equal shares after expenses. If you have moral reservations, I'll only bring you in when contract calls for striking against the bad guys." Dirk explained cheerfully.

"What are you talking about?" He asked referring to the rest of their conversation.

"Well, we lost our international privileges a few years ago, so we may seem like a new organization that way, notwithstanding our notably low staff. But we'll see if our organisation survives the problem first, and then we'll see what we do." Gallahad continued, folding her arms.
"Personally, I'm just a proxy leader, once the actual one comes back, you'll have your answer. I think I'll just go back home once I finish what I have to do."

Balder on the other hand waved off Dirk's question.

"Something personal, nothing to worry about." Balder answered, somewhat bothered by what Richard had told him, the fact that he somehow managed to figure out he was the one linked to Johanna's past was odd, especially if he had just decided to capitalize on it by instinct.
But then again, if Johanna didn't know, he wouldn't have to worry either way.

[Laurvier]

Dirk Harkenby (Freelancer)

Dirk laughed at that. "Sweetheart, these contracts aren't exactly government sanctioned and the pay is under the table if you know what I mean." He told Gallahad. "You're in the business. You know very well a few rules need to be broken sometimes. Think it over." He said then walked off to the armory himself.

[Shadowwell]

Gio and the Super-Mooks
Blackwell Buffer, Harlem

As the conflict inside the reached its climax, Gio and his men had reached their destination, the bar that a certain individual called Damian Blackwell resides in. Gio gave hand signals signifying all those with proper weapons to take up positions around the bar entrance. Gio gestured to the door and spoke aloud for the first time, his melodious voice wafted through the air. "Luka, if you would be so kind." The larger more muscular man gave a grunt of affirmation as he moved towards the doorway of the bar. His muscles bulged under his suit as he exerted a portion the strength given to him by Gio, he punched out with both his arms.

They impacted against the heavy wooden wooden door, which groaned momentarily before it shattered inwards, the splinters and pieces showered the inside of the bar. After he completed his task he stepped inside, due to his wide frame he had to tilt himself to walk through the doorway. He took in the scene briefly before stepping to the side, as he did so, Gio and the others entered, along with one or two of the unmodified soldiers. Gio raised his eyebrows as he fully took in the sight, that he had only been able to glimpse at before. "Well this kind of puts a wrench into things." He glanced up at the individuals presumably responsible for the smoking husk before him. "So, which one of you strange individuals did this, exactly." Despite the rather srange sight before him, Gio kept his calm as he waited.

[True Christopia]

Andrew "Snake Eyes" Marks - Knights Fortress


“Ah, I hear you.” said Andrew to the two sisters, though his voice didn't sound that convinced, “It’s just that weird shit happens all the time everyday because of people like us. Heck, working with you guys pretty much had an impact on how I see the universe and it’s questionable if it’s for good or bad. I don't think you can have total control over what the public sees unless you have one of those mind wiper things from Men in Black.”

Andrew then made a gang bearing smile upon hearing Red Doctor’s voice. His snake, Rango, turned to the man, and Snake Eyes gave him a quick not. Yes. It actually sounded like a great idea to go out for a drink with someone like him. “Will be seeing you later, then Mates.” said Andrew to both Red Spector and the sisters after being called by Calamity, “Bye bye.”

The Serpentine man drained his beer before joining up with his teammates. Looking around, Andrew recognizes some of the people that he’d be working with, like Ris and Crimson, but there were some new guys that he didn't know, like Vulcan and Richard. Obviously, they were new recruit like him. He thought it would be interesting to work with them. On the other hand, it’s most likely going to be an ever continuation of his ever changing view of the universe. Wonder what missions they have in store for us. thought Snake Eyes to his snake Rango,

After teleporting with his compatriots, Andrew found himself back at the Knights’ Headquarters and Fortress. Home sweet home. Inside Andrew smiled listened to Calamity gave her usual speech to the new recruits. It was all the same to him. Snake Eyes is already well accustomed to the Knight Organization rules and regulations and filling out paperwork using a provided computer with brail keys as he couldn't read and write because of his blindness. The Knights have been so helpful with accommodations this past month. Andrew was especially looking forward to Harvard University as the Knights, having so many ridiculous connections, to help him further with such education.

After Calamity dismissed the group of newly recruited Knights,. Snake Eyes decided to try getting to know his new teammates.Among the first people to catch the eyes of his seeing eye Boa Constructor, Rango, was a young looking kid not wearing any costume or armour. Andrew guessed that he was about two years younger than him. Walking up to Charlie with a friendly smile on his blind reptilian face, Snake Eyes had Rango look upon him with full attention. “G’day, Mate.” he greeted hissing in his Australian accent, “What’ssss your story? Name is Andrew Marks, but you probably know me better as Snake Eyes like the rest of the public…”

Charlie

Charlie cocked an eyebrow as the snake-man approached him, his mouth gaping open for a moment in confusion before he shut it again. As the boy spoke, Charlie attempted to process what was in-front of him - although, he supposed, there was weirder stuff out there.

Avoiding the boa-constrictor on Andrew's shoulder, Charlie replied with "Never 'eard of you, mate." before taking a slight step in the opposite direction of the snake "I'm Charlie." he said "From London." he added as an afterthought, considering the question, although he was refraining from giving much more detail.

[Serah]

Dirk Harkenby (Freelancer)

Dirk laughed at that. "Sweetheart, these contracts aren't exactly government sanctioned and the pay is under the table if you know what I mean." He told Gallahad. "You're in the business. You know very well a few rules need to be broken sometimes. Think it over." He said then walked off to the armory himself.

Gallahad shrugged, it wasn't like money was a big part of her life, she lived perfectly well on her own in the middle of Scotland.
Unbeknownst to her however, the Scottish government actually paid for all her expenses, so she never seemed to spend a thing, her house was always oddly constantly furnished with everything.

Maybe it was to keep a myth going on to attract tourists? If that was the case, she really didn't mind. After all, if she didn't have to work herself to the bone about something, she'd take it.
But maybe, once she figured it out, she would try and get in touch with the scottish government, just to check on why they're doing all this for her.
The reason may be a little darker than she'd expect though.

Meanwhile, in the armory, Richard held back his surprise when he saw that many of the weapons he had used before were there. And not exactly the conventional kinetic weaponry he tended to use.
His preferred weapon was something akin the sniper rifle print, mostly due to his days in the ERU in Ireland, which was the main reason why he went as a vigilante initially. The army did like his powers, and a whole unit had been centered around him circling more dangerous terrorists with his powers and gunning them down.
Of course, those affairs were swept under the rug due to the more than violent nature of the intervention, but it was still a decent way to use his powers correctly, ever since then, he was fond of sniper rifles, a somewhat morbid reason but... Who am I to judge?

Grabbing a Steyr SSG, he ran his hand along the gun, remembering his past.

"Been a while since I shot with one of you... Wonder if I'm still a good enough shot." And with that, he started shooting. The world seemed to fade away from his vision when he shot, his concentration peaking to the highest degree. As a reflex, his cables floated around him, making him seem quite ominous.

[Remnants of Exilvania]

New York City
Harlem
The Blackwell Buffer

The sound of guns being raised and pointed at him was what greeted Gio. The soldiers of the SS were no fools but well trained professionals and would turn him into swiss cheese any moment. But Dirlewanger raised his hand, making them hold their fire. Then he slowly turned around, his robotic eye giving off the usual strange sounds as it refocused on him. Dirlewanger dusted off his uniform, picking wooden splinters out of the leather trenchcoat he was wearing with his claws. His mechanical voice was the only thing that filled the silence that had ensued after the guns had been raised:

"What business does the Mafia have here? Herr Blackwell closed his pub already so I doubt you are here for the drinks. Not that he could serve you any in this state."

He pointed at the smoking remains of Damian as he said that last part. THe Scarlet Baroness seemed to have calmed down, seeing as the fire had vanished and wasn't consuming those remains as well. But now Reichhart was there, grabbing the smoking husk by one of it's arms and dragging it after him as he joined. His other hand had his sword, resting it on his shoulders as he stood next to Dirlewanger. He didn't really fear that Damian's arm would fall off. He had seen the regenerative powers first hand by now so he guessed that they would prevent that from happening.

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Abandoned Blind Eye Factory

The SS had always been on the lookout for troublemakers. Troublemakers were always good for their cause. They would bring the world even further down into darkness, which would lead to the rise of the SS and their dark benefactors.

Now guess how happy they were when they noticed some years ago how a strange virus had infected several computers in an american facility of theirs. It was intriguing to say the least but also quite worrying. The SS operated their computers and technological assets with a great amount of security. Many of them were completely offline and if not, then they were usually in a facility specific network. Hell, they even had the assets for an own global network. Now the question was, how had something external come in there? It was the first question they solved after isolating the virus AI because it was the most threatening issue.

Apparently an employee had been using an infected USB-stick. The source of the infection probably was some random corporate or government computer, from which the operative had downloaded data during a mission. This data was obviously infected and had then later infected the technical assets he had used within the SS' base. The idiot was obviously executed and stricter security measures were put into place to ensure that this would not happen again.

Now there was the issue of the nature of this virus. In safe environments it was being tested, it's protocols triggered. In the end it was and stayed an AI, and every AI had triggers that would ultimately force it to do the bidding of those who had the longer lever. And so they found out. Found out about it's protocols, it's aims, it's nature, it's source...and that was all they needed to know. They didn't care about how dangerous it was. The more dangerous, the better. After installing additional protocols in the AI they had captured, they released it again, in another, random private computer. But why would they do that? Well, it was obvious. The AI was connected to it's source AI. And a connection could function both ways. They had gathered the information they needed. Found out about the location the layout and most importantly, the troubles of ALAN's factory. And they couldn't have it have these troubles. It was only worth something if it was causing trouble, not when it was suffering from it. So they decided to make him an offer he could not refuse.

From outside the factory from an ATGM launcher, a missile was fired at the factory. It penetrated the walls and flew right in before finally coming to a halt in another wall. The outer coating of the missile fell off together with it's thruster. It left basically a stick, sticking in the wall and...a projector on top of it? Yes indeed, a projector it was as it suddenly came to life and projected the gas masked face of SS Standartenführer Haegler onto ALAN's wall/body.

"Hello ALAN, or may I call you Allen? It sounds much better you know?

Anyway, I am sure you know who I am, yes? Probably having corrupted some fine Interpol computers, right? Then you also know exactly which organisation I represent, although you can only guess at how much it encompasses. You know that I have men, skills and material.

And we know that you are lacking both men, material and the outdated machinery you use is starting to show a lack of skill. Age stops for no one, does it?

Anyway, I have a vested interest in you carrying out your plans or atleast a part of them. They promise to be most...entertaining and keep the Knights very busy. My interest is indeed so great that I make you an offer. How about I send some people here. Real people I mean. And they give you a little...upgrade. And not just that, how about weekly truck convoys with materials? Sounds very good, doesn't it? And all I want, is for you to start making some trouble.

You'll be forced to make some trouble anyways. Such a large manufacturing complex tends to not just vanish off the radar, except if it never was on there to begin with. At some point someone will probably ask himself what such a large facility is doing and who is responsible. I suppose you have a plan for that but still...wouldn't want to provoke things by staying quiet for much longer."

Fun fact, the whole message was prerecorded.

[Primordial Luxa]

NYPD - Times Square

The cops Kara ran into were arrayed in a line at the entrance to time square. Her landing had not gone unnoticed and the NYPD had moved to quickly deduce her route and create a blockade as best they could and evacuate as many people as possible. Half a dozen cop cars were positioned with various men and women aiming pistols, rifles and strange looking guns of clearly metadesign at her.

Behind them, a dozen or so folks were armed with megaphones and directing the numerous citizens to clear the area. A few people were trying to linger as best as possible recording everything with phones while others simply watched

She had not done anything, yet, but the police had no idea which team she was batting for. The Knights had already been contacted and it was likely they would respond if the situation was deemed a large enough threat.

“Are you going to fight us?” a voice said carried to Kara by a the loudspeaker of one of the cars. She could see a middle-aged man in a detective's uniform watching her with a radio at his mouth. He seemed relaxed, the question wasn’t an accusation merely curiously.

Elinor - Brighton Beach

Elinor pulled her hoodie tighter as the breeze from Jamacia washed over her. It wasn’t enough and despite the sun the weather was still cool. She felt a brief flare of annoyance at Alice but it passed quickly. She had chosen to come here looking for Triglav, Alice hadn’t forcer her, she had wanted something to do and after being cooped up in the penthouse for so long she had needed something to take her mind off her isolation.

So her she was looking around and asking homeless people if they had seen traces of anyone with superpowers. Occasionally someone mentioned seeing the Knights or a meta-celebrity, but there wasn’t much to go off of.

“Hey,” she said dropping a five dollar bill in a man cups. “You ever hear of someone called Triglav? Meta. Probably has a suit of somekind. Talks about someone called Carl Despender.”

Calamity Rose - The Knights Fortress

“All Knights get up to the main room we have an incident requiring a full team response.” Calamity paged over the buildings vox.

MarK Ultra was up quickly he was used to this kind of last-minute summons and was pulling an assault rifle over one shoulder as he stumbled in. He was quickly followed by Roanoke and eventually Doctor Heat Death. As the others began trickling in Calamity was already giving instructions and preparing for the eventuality.

“Roanoke we need a portal to Arvene.”

“Coordinates?” He asked.

“Uh, try 40°35'51.8"N 73°47'57.2"W.”

He nodded and pulled a stick of chalk out of his pocket and began drawing a series of symbols on the ground.

“Okay people we have what look like a large object of some kind heading at a rapid speed towards South Brooklyn. Were going to go and see what it is, if it’s a threat then we’re going to try and defeat it as best as possible and if all else fails pull people out of the surrounding area.”

Her first thoughts were defense; she had no idea what kind of threat they would be facing or if it would even be a threat. Still, she wanted to hedge her bets.

“Doctor Heat Death, stay here if any of us get injured work with Roanoke to drag them back through the portal and start fixing them.”

“Alexandria, I’ve opened our comms channel to you. You're free to talk with the rest of the team. Everybody this is Alexandria she’s NUMB’s tech guru and will be the thirteenth member of the team.”

“Mark, you, Vulcan, Ris and Gallahad will be our first line, hit hard and try to do as much damage as possible. Richard, Freelancer, Crimson, and Snake Eyes I want you as a second line farther back act as the eyes and be ready to move quickly to intercept if they thing is fast moving. I will be in the air providing fire support and giving out orders. Alexandria I expect to monitor the area to the best of our abilities and keep us in the loop. If this quickly turns out to be harder than anticipated start evacuating people.”

Roanoke stepped back from his work and threw a small roundish object into the circle, and in a sudden burst of light, there was a hazy image of a suburban street in south Brooklyn, a sign post in the distance read Beach Channel Drive.

Katlin Golden - Rockway Beach

Katlin Golden would be one of those unlucky people to go down as a mere statistic. She wouldn’t get to be a tragedy mourned by name, her identity in death would be stolen like her life. A cruel fate and final insult commit by those who could kill and maim in such high degrees that it forced the depersonalization of their victims. Few people could do this, Godless, might spring to mind, the SS certainly. And now this.

Katlin had decided to go for a walk, staying home likely wouldn’t have saved her but this didn’t help. She had spent nearly all day working, and for someone who spent most of her time at home filling out spreadsheets to help organize patients for doctors it was a luxury to get out and breath the fresh air. Helped clear her mind.

Sometimes she figured she should get a dog. Someone to walk would help her stay active and probably stop these growing feelings of sadness that were flaring up occasionally.

When it struck she first mistook it for a storm. A massive wave which crashed against the beach and spewed foam and brine high enough to blanket a house. But when the house collapsed into rubble and the structure was sent flying across the street she realized something was very much amiss.

Then it hit her, the smell as though a million graves had exploded open and their content risen up. It nearly made her fall over and start gagging. Another house was reduced a shadowy shape striking it with a sound like a rainstorm, a third and then a forth. Whatever it was it was fast and large, Katlin could barely make out the full shape but she could tell that it was at least three stories tall and about a hundred yards long.

She was having trouble making out definitive details because she had collapsed to the ground struggling to breathe. It wasn’t just the cancerous smell of death that permeated the area but she realized that something was wrong with her. Her whole body hurt, her chest felt like it was on fire and she could swear her brain was soaking in acid. She wanted to scream but there was air, there was no strength left in her.

More destruction, an explosion erupted a few blocks down and people's screams began to echo across the area. Those screams were quickly cut short by the sounds of thunderous destruction another half a dozen buildings exploding into rubble their occupants dead before they could react.

Her brain was already halfway gone when she figured out that her heart had stopped and her lungs were refusing to suck in oxygen. She consciously breathed, but they were shallow and weak, not enough in the face an unnatural heart attack. As she died on her knees crying she thought of her family and friends, of the people she had hurt, those she had loved, all the things she would never do and the future she would miss out on. It hurt more than death all that wasted potential.

It terrified her for a second until the thing rounded a corner and she saw it fully. And then it was all she could think about. All her regrets, all her last minutes hopes, and dreams, this was worse, this was a million times worse. She tried to scream in primordial terror at the thing bearing down on her a mess of slime, cancer, and tentacles. But she couldn’t she could only impotently open her mouth as her cold still heart died.