freedomliveson

Alliances (VenusSTAR/Freedomliveson)

Half of the group targeted Kara while the others glided through the air to intercept Clark from aiding his cousin, three launching themselves with blades pointed at the Man of Steels chest while two threw star like projectiles that were aimed at his neck. He ducked underneath the stars and thrust his arm upwards, connecting with the gut of one of the attackers, forcing the now limp body into the air. Speeding up and grabbing the body mid flight, he threw the unconscious attacker at his squad mates, nailing another with the surprise projectile while the others dodged and regrouped as Clarks feet connected with the ground.
"There's no way I can talk you out of trying to keep this battle going, huh?" The Shadows heads snapped to Karas situation in unison before hastily grabbing smokebombs situated on their hips and throwing them to the ground a millisecond too soon for Clark to react. Cursing vehemently, Superman charged into the smoke and grabbed at nothing but vapor, gliding out of the fog and noting that the Shadows had pulled the same party trick with his cousin.
"You alright?" He noted the cuts on her suit and wanted to ask how she felt, but knew that she would brush off the question, so instead he pointed at the crate the Shadows were so intent on guarding.
"Why don't we see what the League was trying to get into Metropolis?" Moving to the crate, he attempted to see inside only to shake his head.
"Lead lined. Shocker." Instinctively he thrust his arm in front of Kara, looking down with a chuckle.
"Can you blame me for being protective?" Dropping the arm, he refocused its effort to ripping off one side of the crate, aluminum canisters tumbling out, all of which had no markings. Peering inside the can with gifted eyes, he frowned.
"Nothing. At all." He levitated a few inches above the ground before circling the container, frown growing even more.
"Not even a clue as to where it was headed." Sighing, he glanced at Kara with grim certainty.
"Bruce could probably figure out why Shadows would be guarding something as seemingly innocent as this. We're headed to the cave." Clark grabbed the side of the crate he tore off and sealed it back with a few concentrated blasts of heat vision.
"You've never been to the cave, have you? Just...don't touch anything. Hopefully he won't be too grouchy that I brought you along without his authorization." Before Kara could comment, he quickly added:
"Yes, he IS that paranoid. One of the many reasons we love him."

-------

"Bruce, where's the footage? It's-" The computer chimed that it was ready to go and was primed to playback on Bruce's say so.
"Never mind. It's here, does that mean I can go now?" A sudden gust of wind blew through the cave, nearly bowling Dick over.
"That's one way to enter. Didn't even hear the car." He turned to find a shipping container sitting in the middle of the cave flanked by Superman and a very, very attractive young woman in an outfit that was...flattering.
"Didn't think you hung out here anymore."
"I don't, but when the Man calls, it's hard to turn down. Kinda feel indebted to him for, you know, raising me." He walked to the young woman, extending a hand.
"You must be the Supergirl I've heard about. Dick Grayson or, if you're feeling formal, Nightwing." He offered his best smile, chest puffing out just enough for her to maybe see certain details about his physique.
"Dick..." Clarks tone was admonishing, which made the Grayson boy want to pursue the assumed Kryptonian even more.
"We need his help, maybe yours too."
"Right. Tell me what you've got."

Alliances (VenusSTAR/Freedomliveson)

Of course! Can't help but tell the truth ;)

Thanks very much! I'm very tired of Snyder/DC cinema making him so broody, so I like to play him as more of a Dean Cain/Christopher Reeve type.

Update: Trying to tie up loose ends at work, so will get you a post later today! Sorry for the delay

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Gave you a chance to have Ari further explain stuff/have the Zabrak lady talk :)

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Aria's suggestion had caught him slightly off guard, but what she said made sense. Technically, they didn't have any authority over this underground group of Force users and would probably not earn any favors from them by attempting to leverage their status. Not that Yerbol was going to try, but he thought that maybe his lovely, wonderful, caring partner would have maybe, potentially shoved their credentials in the collectives faces of the Force users and demanded(no, asked) to follow their lead. It was telling of the growth she had gone through over the past year.

Yerbol's thoughts on his wife's maturity ended swiftly upon noting the cloaked figure near the doorway.
"Honey." He muttered quietly, Aria continuing to fiddle with the terminal in front of them. A gentle nudge got her focused on what he saw, prompting an approach. While planets like Coruscant managed to hide the presence of Force users rather well due to the sheer number of people that occupied the planet, it was hard to ignore the aura that this woman(he assumed based on the facial structure) was emanating. She had to be their contact.

After a brief exchange that Yerbol knew he wouldn't dare interfere in on account of getting sassed later, they were following the hooded figure out through the port and into the familiar receiving area that the duo would normally pass through on their way to the Tower. Instead of taking the exit a few hundred feet ahead, the woman led them to the right and down a smaller hallway jammed to the brim with crates, luggage and other miscellaneous baggage that had to be navigated around cautiously so as to not shatter whatever may be inside.
"So you guys set up shop in baggage claim? Really?" The woman snorted again as they hung around a corner and entered a freight elevator that was peeling with rust and decay. When they stepped onto the platform, the woman pressed a glowing red button to the right of the doorway, prompting a metal grate to slam shut, sealing any attempt at exiting before the elevator lurched downward, gears grating incessantly.
"When you're trying to stay 'off the grid', precautions have to be made, including using antiquated technology...and using unexpected places to hide out in." After a few more moments of frustratingly high pitched grinding and subsequent whining from the dogs, the elevator platform slammed downward, metal grate sliding upward to reveal a narrow hallway that opened up into a maze of conveyor belts and catwalks suspended in mid-air, crossing and bending around each other before terminating at various points in the walls. The floor was littered with suitcases and various other forms of travel debris coated in dust, grime or both. As a contrast to the dingy underbelly of the port were several metal tables at the other end of the wide room that had large pieces of parchment scattered across them along a couple of coffee thermos', ration packs and one lone datapad on the center table. Standing behind the center table was a Twi'lek, long and thin like a reed ready to be plucked by the wind. His navy blue skin seemed to almost shimmer in the dull light, his dark black eyes examining the new visitors closely. Yerbol couldn't help but blurt out:
"Master Kartan?" The black eyes twinkled slightly as he motioned for them to come closer.
"Goodness gracious, has the little boy grown. Well, you never were little to begin with." The Zabrak's look of surprise was met with laughter by the skinny Twi'lek, who motioned to the Champion, gently chiding:
"You didn't tell me that Malu would be sending these two. Ah, probably for the better anyhow." He stepped around the table and clapped a hand on the boy's shoulder, looking him over.
"To think that all this time has passed since the last time I saw you. When was it again?"
"Before I became a Knight, so...nineteen?"
"And what are you now?"
"Twenty three."
"Twenty three!" He gave the Champion's shoulder a hard squeeze before addressing Aria:
"Forgive my manners, but an old man in my position is happy to see a friendly face, even if it is...well, we'll get to that later. I'm Olivie Kartan. And I know you're Aria Massani, so don't worry about introducing yourself. Your face(and wedding) was put all over the Net." He resumed his place behind the table as he continued:
"I knew Yerbol when he was a youngling at the Academy, you see."
"He and Master Solus worked together quite a bit." Yerbol filled in, Olivie nodding in approval.
"Indeed we did. Those are times I still think about with fondness..." He then waved off the nostalgia with his right hand.
"But you're not here for me to reminisce. Malu sent you here to talk about Manus, correct?"
"Master Kar-"
"It's just Kartan now, Yerbol. Formalities got blown away when Bracknell decided to eradicate any trace of order within the Force."
"...Kartan. Right." He cleared his throat before continuing:
"Malu sent us with a proposal of sorts, for your network to break away from Manus completely."
"Really? That's a rather bold proposal, but for your sake I'll listen. Go on."
"We know that Manus helped build this network to help Force users who had nowhere to go during Bracknell's purge and he's sort of become a cult hero among those who don't want to join the Qyaari."
"Correction, my boy: he IS a hero. Manus managed to round up whatever help he could, both Jedi and Sith, and managed to get us through the worst of it. Across the galaxy, there are havens of Force users who are attempting to rebuild their lives thanks to what he did. Which leads me to ask why you would think we would sell Manus out to a self-righteous order that is bound to repeat the same mistakes we did?"

Ah. There it is.

The niceties had to end sooner or later.

"He's not acting in your best interests anymore." A chuckle.
"A proclamation with little evidence."
"We know that Jean Soto was broken out of prison by Manus, we know that he's been diverting resources from your outposts in order to serve his own interests and we can bloody well prove it if you let us." The mention of Jean prompted the former Master to narrow his eyes, a glance cast in the direction of the Zabrak.
"And what is this proof you have?"

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

That I will! The gal with the tattoos...is she a human? Or a zabrak? Or something else entirely? Wanted to make sure before I carried on.

Also, speaking of carrying on, my wife and I FINALLY had an offer on a house accepted! Yay! So we're heading over there today for the inspection AND I have to finalize grades today. In short, busy day for me, so I'll get you a post either Monday or Tuesday :)

Alliances (VenusSTAR/Freedomliveson)

So I'm finalizing grades today(I teach for a living) AND I have an appointment to go to pretty soon afterward. Will post either Monday or Tuesday.

By the way, LOVE your portrayal of Kara and descriptive writing style. It's been fun!

Alliances (VenusSTAR/Freedomliveson)

"I'm sure you will." A proud smile formed on Clark's lips. For someone who had come to Earth just a few years ago, his cousin had adopted rather well to the lifestyle. There were times when he almost forgot that Kara hadn't been raised with him as a child. His parents didn't do very much to dispel the notion that the duo had been separated for so long, instead choosing to adopt Kara as their own, which made Kara almost like a younger sister instead of a cousin. He had always wanted a sibling growing up and thankfully the house of El managed to give him that kind of relationship. He would treasure it for as long as he lived.

Brushing aside the momentary sentimental tangent, he set down his food and motioned to the window.
"Well, you do have your costume on, don't you? Let's fly." Within a matter of moments, the duo had sprung out of the apartment window. Those who bothered to look up towards the sky at that particular moment would see two flashes of light darting across the night sky. Those flashes would eventually slow down as they flew towards the outskirts of the city, Clark holding out a hand as a sign for Kara to stop before telling her:
"I've got a feeling that if Lex is trying to do anything under the table, he'd want somewhere discreet and accessible." They hovered over the diminished range of skyscrapers, highways leading to various parts of the Tri-State area as the Kryptonian thought for a few moments.
"A few weeks ago, I remember that there were reports being made by homeless squatting near the old docks that there were, as they put it, 'shadows with guns' moving around. They were dismissed as the ramblings of the unfortunate, but now I have a feeling there might be something to do that. Let's head in that direction." The "old docks" that Clark referred to was the main shipping and receiving port for Metropolis, used until around 1970 when the city created more up-to-date facilities on the southern tip of the city, seeing as most imports and exports were easier to distribute. It was the northern point of the city where the ruins of the old docks lay, the Kryptonians descending onto one of the abandoned piers to find the area eerily quiet. Brick facades stood with grimy windows, open shipping containers rusted in the moonlight and garbage of all sorts littered the area.

Perfect for Lex.

"You hear anyt-" There was something. It was deathly quiet, but he could hear it. Fabric rustling against wooden planks, then concrete...he spun to their left to find four ebony-clad forms a few hundred feet away, their faces obscured by masks. In their hands were steel blades that formed a protective barrier around two rather large crates. Both the forms and the crates had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, which, when put all together implicated-
"The League of Shadows, Bruce was right." He looked to Kara before telling her:
"They can do some serious damage with their swords. Take them out as fast you can." Clark engaged the attackers by flying towards them, scattering the group of Shadows who deftly rolled out of the way, two charging the Man of Steel head on. With a quick blast of icy cold breath, one fell to the ground, blood nearly frozen in place. The other made a few quick attempts at slashing the Man of Steel to pieces, Clark dodging the blows before grabbing his assailant by the neck and slamming him to the ground, rendering him unconscious.

Has the League gotten weaker? Or...

More shadows emerged from alleyways and crevices, ten in total.
"Kara! Watch it! We've got more!"

Alliances (VenusSTAR/Freedomliveson)

Great! Will post here in a minute :)

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Do whatever you wish! Manus is more than enough for me as a NPC xD

Alliances (VenusSTAR/Freedomliveson)

Questions for you:

-What do you think Clark and Kara should find on their patrol? I'm thinking that maybe they can discover a shipment of nerve gas accompanied by League of Shadow assassins on the Metropolis docks? That way we can get Bruce involved rather quickly.

-Would you mind if I controlled Lex and you controlled Talia?