Threat to Society (IC)

[Avenger Assembled]

"You would be unlikely to bring me back alive," concurred Harrier. "Thus there is only one plausible solution. I will head to the surface to speak to the people aboard the ship, while you can follow from beneath the surface." And with that, engine roaring behind him, Harrier erupted from the water and made a bee-line towards the carrier, jetpack flaming with black and red Terminus fire as he zoomed through the air. He was slower than a jet or helicopter, but unmistakeable in the air for what he was all the same. I have nothing to hide. I only need to land on the surface of the boat and explain myself and they will understand.

[Ari]

Shrugging his massive shoulders at the grave statements, the triton watched the strange man arc out of the water, leaving a taste of impending death in his wake all too familiar to the warrior. To the receding figure he said aloud "One thing I like about you, Harrier, you don't waste time" he swam with cold grace up to the looming mass of the ship, a slight feeling of deja vu coming over him as he began a meticulous scan of the ship for any potential access points.

No need to go and damage the ship if it can be avoided, I have no idea how this thing is made, and I might by accident strike just the right place to start sinking it he told himself grimly.

[Supercape]

GM

"Open fire!" commanded Chambers.

"But...sir...." blubbered the gunner. "I think...I think it might be Harrier..."

"Son!" snapped Chambers at the Gunner, "I don't care if its the Queen of England and her corgi's. Open fire. That's an order...and if you don't follow it you will spend the rest of your life rotting in the worst military prison I can find!"

"Yuh...Yuh....Yessir!!!!" snapped the Gunner.

BOOOOOOM!

Crack-a-crack-a-crack-a-crack-a-crack....

The Cannons and Machine Guns opened fire, unleashing a volley of explosions and a stream of high calibre bullets at Harrier as he weaved his way towards the ship.

"Let me be clear about this to everyone!" commander Chambers.

"This ship is here to stop another Terminus Invasion. There is no room for error. There is no room for mistakes. There is no room for the benefit of the doubt and going crying to your mummy when the next horde of invaders!"

"Fire at will!"

[Avenger Assembled]

As shells erupted around him and bullets ricocheted off his armored body, for an agonized moment Harrier was back in his armor amid a pack of Omegadrones, falling on helpless soldiers and warriors with no superpowers to defend them; the would-be defenders of a planet so many rams to be slaughtered along with the other sheep. The urge to simply turn around and leave was strong, but now he couldn't, not with the knowledge of a helpless captive aboard that ship and the secret of Terminus technology they had to be carrying aboard. He could imagine Gina saying some fairly sharp-tongued things about his purpose, but for all that he knew he could not swerve: though he looked momentarily rattled by the eruption of gunfire and explosions all around him, those aboard the ship saw Harrier continue on!

[Supercape]

GM

The Artillery fire stopped as Harrier approached the deck of the Centurion. The Machine Gun Fire continued unabated, the more mobile turrets swinging around and even carving up the deck of the carrier as they relentlessly pounded the rouge Omegas Drone.

Soldiers were taking up defensive positions on decked. Harrier could see these guys were well drilled, and well armed. They may not have been elite forces, but they were fighters even so.

"Surrender Immediately or we will continue!" blared the deck speakers, fuzzy and distorted, but loud and clear nonetheless.

As Harrier approached even nearer, the soliders on decked started opening up with small arms fire adding to the relentless assault of the machine guns. He could also see two aircraft screaming down the runway, taking off.

[Ari]

At last! A careful survey of the hull had at first been wholly fruitless, the torpedo tubes sending ominous jolts of unease down Wave-Eye's spine, and most other entryways looking almost as dangerous to intrude. But a small aperture near the stern struck him as much closer to what he was hoping to find, and with a wave of his powerful dragon's tail he shot into one with consummate speed and grace, emerging in the mine-dropping room with..rather less.

[Supercape]

GM

Down below the water line...

"Prepare number 2 portal private! We are under attack!" commanded the officer.

"Sir! Yes Sir!" snapped his subordinate "Setting charge...Sealing Detonator...Loading the..whaaaaaa!"

The poor private stepped back in horror as Wave-Eye stepped into the depths of the U.S.S Centurion.

"Intruder! Intruder!" yelled the officer, smacking an alarm which responded with a wailing klaxon and flashing red lights. The brave man pulled out his side arm and levelled it at Wave-Eye.

"Surrender or I will fire!" he shouted, defiantly, looking Wave-Eye as squarely as he could right in the eye.

[Ari]

Meeting his gaze squarely, the triton loomed over the man, shoulders a little slumped, neck jutting out at around the human's level. In his grinding, watery voice he gurgled "Youth, I am passing on my way to search this ship for something that is using Terminus energies for some reason. I have no quarrel with you, and shall let you be. Or else..." he leaned closer, letting his breath(which he knew carried the smell of death from all that had perished by his long fangs) wash over the man's face "...if you continue to try and stop me, I will simply remove you from my way, and make certain that you never rise to threaten me or the freed drone again."

He stared hypnotically into the human's eyes, engulfing them in the inky depths of his own.

[Supercape]

GM

The officer gulped, and the hands clinging to his handgun shook visibly.

The alarms continues to sound, and the faces of Wave-Eye and the young officer were intermittently illuminated with the red light from the alarm above.

"I...can't let you...orders...are orders..." he said, trying to face off Wave-Eye, without success.

The gun slipped from his sweaty palms and clattered along the floor. It was lucky it didn't fire off.

"Ack....I don't want to die..." he mumbled, shaking, and pressing himself firmly against the rooms side wall, spreading his hands out and looking away, hopeful that Wave-Eye would somehow not notice him any longer. It was true, however, that he had left the way up free.

And up ahead the alarms continued to sound, and the lights continued to flash. Wave-Eye could hear and feel the scuttering of feet along the many decks of the Centurion.

[Ari]

"Thank you" Wave-Eye said kindly, patting the man on the shoulder as he walked past with his heavy tread.

Alright, soldiers coming, I must prepare. he glanced around the narrow corridors, marking with irritation how close and cramped they were for someone of his size. Bending his knees a little, he began to quickly stalk down the hall, eyes peeled for any signs that might indicate a way to what he guessed was a restricted area. Not everyone on the ship was privy to its cargo, it seemed.

[Supercape]

GM

Wave-Eye quickly moved through the underbelly of the Centurion. He was already far below the waterline, and went further. He could hear the hum, and feel the vibrations of the engines, and reactor.

From what he could see from the signs, the U.S.S. Centurion was nuclear powered... there were even warning signs about radiation in some areas.

What really caught his eye, as he dodged left and right to avoid the patrolling soldiers, was a level marked

"TOP SECRET RESEARCH: LEVEL ALPHA CLEARANCE ONLY!"

It was certainly guarded well, with 4 soldiers positioned outside the heavy blast door, in full body armour and heavy machine guns. These guys looked like they would be ready for a heavy fire fight...

[Avenger Assembled]

Harrier landed on the deck of the carrier with a boom like a struck gong, his massive weight and the force of his impact making him hit like a dud tank shell. He bent his knees and caught himself with one hand, rising to his feet as shells ricocheted off his armored frame from the terrified soldiers on the deck. With his pike safely stowed, bullets repeatedly slamming into his armored chest and finding no purchase there, Harrier raised his hands and tried to shout over the noise of the gunfire. "MY NAME IS HARRIER!" he called, his tinny voice echoing from inside the Omegadrone armor. "I AM A SUPERHERO! I NEED TO SPEAK TO YOUR COMMANDING-" He staggered as a particularly large-caliber round hit him in the knee, then found purchase again. "I NEED TO SPEAK TO YOUR COMMANDING OFFICER! AND YOU SHOULD BE CAREFUL OF RICHOCHETS!" he added in a firm chastisement.

[Supercape]

GM

"Cease fire! Cease fire!"

The man on deck was not Chambers, who was still inside the Centurion, but Staff Sargent Davis, a thick set man in middle age still bursting with vitality and experience.

The men around Harrier stopped firing, but did not lower their weapons.

"A Superhero?" he asked, not without politeness, but not without a firm tone either.

"Admiral Chambers is in command here. This is a military operation, and you can't come onboard without direct authorisation, no matter who you are. And quite frankly, you look like an Omegadrone to me, Superhero...and that's precisely the kind of thing we are defending against here..."

He shouldered his assault rifle.

"...so heaven help me we will defend this deck, with whatever we have. And we have more things here than these guns, I tell you..." he added cryptically.

Again, Harrier had that quiet voice in his here, crackled and intermittent, and even shorter this time.

"*Bzzzt* this is doctor *Kvert-Kve-Kve-Kvert* there is no time to *kve-eeeeee-rt* any moment *kvert kver* HELP! this is my last chance to *Kvert Kvert Kvert Bzzzzt* Before its too late!!!!*

[Avenger Assembled]

"I am an Omegadrone," said Harrier frankly, not wanting to bandy words with this or any other man. "And I am here for your salvation, and the salvation of all aboard your vessel. Someone has planted a Terminus device aboard your ship, one that calls upon tremendous quantities of entropic radiation, and may well be holding an innocent human being hostage. Tampering with the power of the Terminus is dangerous for you, your vessel, all aboard her, and indeed all your civilization and your very world. Time is short and matters here are very grave indeed. I implore you, in the name of the man whose proud name this ship bears, one I am not worthy to speak, take me to your leader."

[Ari]

"TOP SECRET RESEARCH: LEVEL ALPHA CLEARANCE ONLY!"

"I need to learn how to read some modern languages" Wve-Eye muttered dourly to himself. His life had previously never required him to know how to read anything more complex than pictograms, Thankfully, he was well-versed in the horrid power the strange three-part symbol on the wall signified: the great human invention of harnessing the energy inside the atom. He had little idea what an atom was, but it seemed to serve the humans well enough when it wasn't dealing hideous wounds or striking them with illnesses.

The sounds of gunfire had abruptly ceased. This was almost more worrying than the constant barrages disrupting the tremors of the soldiers as they moved about.

Thrusting the doors open with a laissez-faire attitude to what was inside, he cast a glance around his new surroundings, wondering idly how he would recognize an engine using raw entropy. "Perhaps someone here could be persuaded to tell me" he speculated aloud, scanning his environs for any guns trained in his direction.

[Supercape]

GM

"I am here for your salvation, and the salvation of all aboard your vessel. Someone has planted a Terminus device aboard your ship, one that calls upon tremendous quantities of entropic radiation, and may well be holding an innocent human being hostage. Tampering with the power of the Terminus is dangerous for you, your vessel, all aboard her, and indeed all your civilization and your very world. Time is short and matters here are very grave indeed. I implore you, in the name of the man whose proud name this ship bears, one I am not worthy to speak, take me to your leader."

The loudspeakers on the Deck rang out - with characteristic distortion - but even so, Harrier could tell a voice of authority when he heard one.

"This is Admiral Chambers!" said the voice.

"You were warned, Harrier, repeatedly. You disobeyed a direct military command repeatedly. That alone is enough to slap you in irons. This matter is not your concern, and you do not have clearance for this operation. The sole purpose of the Centurion is to protect the Earth from another Terminus Invasion. You remember the Terminus, don't you? you remember all the killing and slaughter you did?"

"There is no way you are getting to us, drone. You have just had a taste of this ships power, but we have plenty here we are working on that can stop you. Your only use to us is as a test subject for our weapons!"

"Yes, we are exploring Terminus Technology! You think we wouldn't? We are not going to get our asses kicked again, y'hear? We are not going to loose more...good men...to your kind again!"

Admiral Chambers sounded furious, like he was losing it. But for all that, he was a good speaker, and the soldiers covering Harrier with their weapons did not budge.

[Avenger Assembled]

Harrier hesitated for a moment, thinking about his place on Earth-Prime and his duty to help others, before he made a momentous decision. At a mental command, his armor retreated back into itself with a wetly organic chunk-chunk-chunk, flesh folding out over Terminus steel and metallic parts vanishing before the body of a man. In scarred flesh and the underclothing he'd worn beneath his armor, he met the gaze of the men all around him, their eyes wide as they saw what was for them a new sight: a living Omegadrone outside of his armor, meeting them with a man's expression, not the dull gaze of a trapped animal or mindless insect. "I will not resist your attacks," he called, his own voice sounding almost like a croak against the sea air, his hands raised high still. His internal armor would still protect him against concerted attack, but he was far, far more vulnerable to the Marines with his flesh so exposed. "I come in peace. But I cannot allow innocents to suffer, even in the name of protecting others."

He raised his voice, speaking to the admiral as much as the others. "The suffering of others is no armor, Admiral. That is the lesson of the Terminus."

[Supercape]

GM

There was a pregnant pause as Harrier's actions and words hit home. Nobody did anything, but Harrier could see the soldiers on deck were moved, seeing flesh and blood, a wounded soldier in front of them.

For what seemed an eternity, there was silence on deck, amidst the scores of armed soldiers and weapons pointed at the lone Hero.

"Disarm him. Bring him and his weapons down to the Alpha Deck" came the blunt squark from the speakers, short and to the point.

"Come on Lad..." said Staff Seargent Davis, advancing slowly, keeping his gun trained on Harrier.

"...if you are a hero, then come quietly...." he said, softly. The man was clearly touched by Harrier, but would follow orders given. He signalled some other squaddies to pick up Harriers armour and pike.

[Avenger Assembled]

Harrier came quietly, not bothering to correct the staff sergeant about questions of age. He kept his eyes open as they went, trying to suss out the technological sophistication of the aircraft carrier and compare it to what he knew of Earth-Prime technology. He'd have to retrieve his pike from them before he left; it wouldn't work for anyone without his implanted circuitry, but he could easily imagine ways they might have obtained that. From a destroyed drone, no doubt. Somehow that thought was...depressing, for all that he favored the destruction of drones in any way possible, and protection against the Terminus, but so far these people were going about it all the wrong way.

[Supercape]

GM

The soldiers, and Staff Seargent Davis, marched Harrier, sans Pike, down the halls of the Centurion, towards Alpha level...

Alpha Level...

Wave-Eye snuck into the secure area: the room was large, with pale overhead lighting ahead. A Gangwalk encircled a central floor, on it was various bits of machinery and technology. The room was cold, kept below zero degrees.

And dominating it was a table, a slab, upon which rested an Omegadrone.

It was dead, there was no doubt about it, it was almost rotten, and there could be no mistake it was a corpse. It was virtually dissected, like an autopsy, but its weapons and armour were also being operated on. Some of it had been fused to its body. It was not clear if they were building something, or taking it apart, or both.

The room itself was stuffed full of robotic devices, weapons, scientific instruments, and the like. Wave-Eye could not begin to recognise it all. HE could tell that many of it seemed to be have been dragged from the sea, some of the haul was almost archeological, and preserved as such.

Around the bottom of the chamber three figures in insulated clothing poked around the Omegadrone and the various technologies lying around.

[Ari]

What are they doing?! thought Wave-Eye as he edged closer to them, crouching slightly as he crept nearer to the table, looking with no little pity at the horribly mangled corpse of the Omegadrone. When he got close enough that he could have taken a step and touched the closest one with his hand, he rose to his feet and gurgled "Hello, humans. Would any of you be willing to explain to me what you are doing, and why these artifacts are here?" grinning at them he added "As well, you wouldn't happen to know about any prisoners you might have, would you? Or why this ship has a device aboard that uses Terminus energy?"

[Supercape]

GM

The three figures spun round to face Wave-Eye. One, presumably the leader, tore off her head mask, her breath freezing in the cold air.

"Who are you?" demanded the beautiful woman - for she was beautiful, probably in her late thirties, with silken brown hair and equally silky brown eyes.

"And what are you doing here? This is a top secret research facility...you are intruding!" she snapped.

"What shall we do, Doctor Chambers?" asked one of her aides.

As if to answer her question, a sound blurted out of the speakers over head.

"WARNING! WARNING! HOSTILE HAS BREACHED ALPHA LEVEL! ENGAGE AND DESTOY! WARNING! HOSTILE IS HIGHLY DANGEROUS AND LETHAL!"

[Ari]

The fishman rolled his eyes at the reaction "Understand this: when asked a question, it is not befitting the questioned to question the questioner" he slackened his posture all the same "But since you asked...I am called Wave-Eye, I am a protector of human interests in these waters for now. As for what I am doing here" he glared at 'Dr. Chambers' openly "it seems that you have imprisoned someone here against their will; I will release them, if you don't mind" he shrugged "or if you do, it makes no difference to me."

Starting at the jangling noise and jolting tremors through the highly conductive flooring as the alarms blared, he winced as the clear orders filtered into being. "Now," he said sternly to the coated humans "you will not leave this room without telling me what I ask: what are you doing with that Omegadrone? And where is the device that uses Terminus energies? Quickly now!" he growled, flexing his claws.

[Avenger Assembled]

Harrier did his best to be unflappable as the alarms went off and the guards tensed, shrugging and keeping his hands held high. Wave-Eye? I hope all is well with him. And what is this talk of lethal force? I thought the militaries here were more mindful even of the blood of the guilty. "That sounds bad. Perhaps you should go deal with it. I can wait here," he offered, staying mindful of their weapons all the while. "Or you can leave me with your leader and we can finally have that conversation." He was expecting violent resistance any moment, but still hoped to avoid bloodshed. "You seem to be the more efficient parts of your security detachment."

[Supercape]

GM

"You will not leave this room without telling me what I ask: what are you doing with that Omegadrone? And where is the device that uses Terminus energies? Quickly now!" he growled, flexing his claws.

Her two companions may have flinched, but Doctor Chambers did not.

"Don't threaten me!" she yelled back defiantly.

"This Omegadrone is the best chance we have of defending ourselves. We have been operating, disecting, and reverse engineering him for years. And he is not just a regular drone, no. Some kind of elite, special forces type..."

She pointed a finger at the corpse.

"And we have been hard at work, mister whoevereyou are! ever heard of the phrase fight fire with fire?"

With that, she pressed a control on the machines in front of her.

Three boxes slid, almost silently open. Inside were some steel suits, in a loosely humanoid shape, squat and round, no more than four feet high, but just as broad, with limbs as think as tree trunks, bristling with weapons...

"Counter - drones! This is Chambers, Security clearance Omega-Zeta-Charlie" she spat out.

"Activate and destroy the xeno!"