NeutralNexus

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG (Closed)

War-Pulse had kept his pace slower than usual so Angel could keep up with him, if it were up to the mercenary he would just break through more walls until he smashed into the Armory. With a tagalong with no personal powers, however, the pace had to be kept much slower so as not to lose sight of him. To be honest, War-Pulse was more relieved than encumbered by the situation, considering the tension that could have arisen between himself and Angel. There was the very real situation the mercenary had considered which involved knocking Angel out if he resisted, but that made the problem of trying to retrieve the armor and the pretty-boy while being shot at by STRIKE troopers. This particular situation was the much easier result.

His train of thought was interrupted by the clicking of dozens of rifles, along with the mechanic whirring of machines coming online and arming themselves as both he and the man he knew as Equilibrium rounded a corner. Of course, War-Pulse responded to this challenge with a sneer and a fighting stance, his fists clenched tightly as he readied himself to tear through these men.

His compatriot had other plans, however, as War-Pulse was about to advance he heard the young man’s words, causing him to raise a brow and look upon the assault team. The two battle machines in the forefront suddenly whirled about, facing the soldiers who were now glaring at their own guns, confusion spreading among the group as the machines advanced. Before anyone knew what was happening, the robots were upon their controllers, swinging and thrashing as they marched, sending a good chunk of the men flying through the air, toppling over one another as they piled along the floor. The mercenary’s brow raised as Angel jumped onto the back of one of the two machines, beckoning for War-Pulse to pick up the pace.

“Warden, you seein’ this shit?” War-Pulse murmured into his comms. “What’s going--”

“Telepathy.” Warden jumped in. “Well...technopathy, from the looks of it. Sherlock didn’t infiltrate my systems last time, the more I think about it... no, the outside force was that man’s mind! No wonder his mech was so powerful.”

“Well, sounds like there is more to this guy than a fancy suit.” War-Pulse murmured back, tagging along behind Angel. He jumped by Angel, hopping off the robot’s head as he shouted back. “No kidding, pretty-boy. The sooner we get out of here, the better. Just make sure you can keep up with that thing! Your safety is my paycheck, and I’d hate to have to do all the heavy lifting”

As he reached a high point in the hallway, his arms became wreathed in energy, released in an intense burst as he dropped from the sky. The remaining STRIKE soldiers in their way were blasted aside from the strike, a wave of men flying backwards, scattering like a flock of birds as they collided with various walls and objects.

With their path clear, War-Pulse nodded to Angel, motioning for him to follow. “This way!” He stated, now moving at a much quicker pace, knowing that Angel will be able to follow while riding his new mechanical mount. Of course, this did not mean that they would not be met with opposition. The base was still scattered, but that did not mean it was unguarded. Another platoon had appeared, this time armed with thiry rockets, twenty machine guns and four more robots. The rockets rumbled as soon as the pair came into view, surging out from their launchers in unison, creating one vicious wave of explosive overkill. Of course, the mercenary reacted quickly, bringing an arm up to erect a kinetic barrier, the explosives connecting with the pure wall of force with such impact that the area around it ruptured and buckled, the walls in front of Angel and Pulse cracking and cratering as their view was momentarily obscured by an inferno. When the smoke cleared, Pulse was the first to act, quickly firing off a beam of energy that ripped straight through one of the robot's heads, the metal carcass twitching in shock as it stood motionless, its head now a mass of warped metal and sparking wires. Following up, the silver-clad warrior threw himself forward, ducking under a wild swing from another robot and countering with a kinetic fist of his own, shredding the plating on another robot's abdomen with a wicked gut punch. Grabbing the second robot by the leg, he turned on his heel, the automaton being taken off of its feet, its body bouncing off the steel flooring as it was spun by the powerful mercenary and tossed with another twist of War-Pulse's body. Not only did the second robot connect with the standing carcass, both robots were sent flying backwards, colliding with half of the STRIKE platoon behind them.

“The Armory should be a level up, and a few more hallways down. You wanna get in on this?” War-Pulse asked, ripping the arm off of another tall mechanoid only to impale it in the chest with the appendage. "I'd hate to have all the fun to myself!"

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG (Closed)

<Snipped quote by NeutralNexus>

Good luck with that. :p Jacqueline won't go down without a fight, her company has its fingers in the black list market dealings.

@Fallenreaper

As tempting as that kind of conflict would be, that's not what I meant.

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG (Closed)

Them fools just got murdered, yo.

@FacePunch

And SuperIOR is about to take out all the competition in one fell swoop! Chike better get his patoot in gear!

Though I might have an idea for that...

Star Wars: Rise of the New Empire (Accepting new players)

Totally, feel free to drop in a character sheet!

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG (Closed)

There, hopefully my post will be a nice bridge between @Facepunch's and @nitemare shape's posts.

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG (Closed)

Umbraxis’ wispy form buckled and rippled with each punch from the ragtag group of metas. Chunks of Dark Matter were flung from its body, its form puddling with the force from each devastating hit. The speedsters were first, each releasing hundreds of punches in a matter of seconds to its form, its body swaying with each assault. Before it even bothered to return fire, they came back in to swipe out its legs, cutting through the smoky mass and causing its face to be low enough for Skyquake’s devastating hit, causing Umbraxis to buckle, parts of its head flying to the wall behind it. It returned fire lazily, only grabbing Skyquake with an outstretched palm before tossing her into a wall, barely enough to damage her. Then came the colossus known as Demolition, charging the shadowy being and pushing it back into the lobby with a vicious tackle. An inky column arose from the floor as soon as they hit the lobby, slamming Demolition into the ceiling and dropping back to the floor. Before it even could prey on the man, however, The Herald of Graa'tazken came in with his blade, and for a moment, the entity was severed, its body splattering across the room as its last attempt, a swing of tendrils, nearly collided through the walls to Supercell and Skull-Thrasher.

Its body fell to the floor, the shadowy puddle eking along the tiles as Boom loosed a taunt at the creature.

A taunt that would soon be drowned out by the sound of amused, horrific laughter.

“Impressive. At least for what this planet has shown me.” Umbraxis’ voice rang across the entire police station as the puddle of black stretched out, spreading along the walls, darting along shadows and snuffing lights. “I can safely say that your little group here has been the most intriguing thing I’ve come across on this little backwater planet. It looks like the neighboring civilization was right, your kind is capable of extraordinary mutation” As it spoke, the shadows closed in on the group, boxing them together as it advanced. “Do try to keep this interesting, will you? Maybe you’ll last a little longer than the last humans I brought to oblivion.”

Almost as soon as its words finished, it unleashed its power. Skull-Thrasher was the first, almost instantaneously ripped from his standing position, impaled to the wall with mass amounts of Dark Matter piercing into his chest, eyes, arms and legs. With another swipe, Umbraxis lashed out with two tendrils from the floor, snaring both Boom and Thunderbolt by the legs and tossing them into Supercell, sending the three tumbling across the floor and impacting with the drywall.

Skyquake was next, barely able to register an assault before a mass of Dark Matter lashed out from the wall and blasted her out of the building, shattering the front wall of the Police Station as her body was flung through multiple layers of concrete, bouncing off of tar and slamming into a nearby Police Cruiser, embedding herself in its hood. The figure reformed as it had assaulted Skyquake, apparently registering her as the larger threat and pursued her. As she came to a sitting position, a tendril of darkness rose from the ground and whipped itself around her neck, causing her to strain and gasp as she reached for the mass, attempting to pull the tendril off as she stared down the advancing Void.

However, Umbraxis had left Demolition unattended to, and he was more than happy to oblige as he chased down the figure, increasing to the size of the Police station itself. Raising a foot, Demolition came down on Umbraxis, trying to squish him against the ground while his attention was focused on trying to kill Skyquake. Umbraxis did not even turn to address the attack, instead a wall of Dark Matter rose from the ground in response, catching the stomping foot as if it was merely a light bunch of leaves. Slowly Umbraxis turned to the attacking Demolition, the tendril around Skyquake’s neck slowly releasing as the entity had lost interest, taking Demolition into its sights. With a flick of its wrist, the giant’s feet were amassed in darkness, another flick caused the shadows to grip around his feet, abruptly rotating them in opposite directions. The grotesque sound of the giant man’s shins snapping echoed through the block, followed by his screams as he fell to the floor, clutching his shattered legs.

“Ugh...how pathetic.” Umbraxis muttered, another motion with its hand caused a larger shadow to wrap around Demolition’s large head, the size of a car now. As the figure squeezed its hand, so to did the shadowy mass begin to tighten and crush around the muffled screams of Demolition’s head, until a sickening crack signified the end of the Meta’s life. Even more terrifying was the fact that when the shadow’s vanished, there was not even a head for Demolition’s body, the darkness had completely deconstructed it in the bubble Umbraxis had created.

“Is that it?” Umbraxis said, chuckling as the metas began to recover. “How utterly disappointing, all these getups and powers and this is the extent of it? Tsk, maybe I really am wasting my time...”

Umbraxis’ cruel words were met by a war cry The Herald of Graa'tazken, his shining blade poised to cleave into the shadowy humanoid. He never got to land the hit, however, as he was met with an attack not yet seen by Earthlings. Raising a hand to The Herald, Umbraxis’ palm was wreathed in what looked like a mass of darkness wreathed in blackened lightning, a charge of Dark Energy was forming in its hand as The Herald advanced. When launched, it ripped through the air, not so much travelling through it as tearing, eating away at the air around it. A shockwave erupted as it collided with The Herald, blasting straight through his chest as he was launched straight back into a nearby truck.

Now mortally wounded, The Herald could only cough blood as his hands shakingly found their way to the hole in his chest, about the size of a football was now missing from his body. And yet, the humanoid was not done with him, a familiar tendril now wrapping around his neck and lifting his body, bringing the struggling, dying man eye-to-eye with the entity, now being the closest anyone had been with Umbraxis for an extended period of time, long enough to see into its white wells, and know what fear truly was.

A fear that was broken when a man in Silver and blue descended from the sky, calling out to Umbraxis and breaking the Endless Void’s attention.

“Umbraxis I take it.” Icon said as he looked the being in the eyes. ”I think it’s time we had a chat.

@nitemare shape

Umbraxis responded with a small bow. “The very one.” It said, its attention fully on the Hero of Lost Haven. “I can only assume by your confidence and the intensity in your eyes, along with your garb, you are the one these people call Icon. In which case, you have my attention...if you could hold on just one moment.”

As it spoke, it made a twisting motion with its hand. The Herald of Graa'tazken’s body twitched as his head was spun around by the tendril around his neck, killing him instantly. As his body was thrown off to the side, Umbraxis continued.

"Couldn't have the poor fool just hanging there...at any rate, are you here to stop me?” It asked, “I can only assume such, one tends to get defensive when their planet is on the line.”

Star Wars: Rise of the New Empire (Accepting new players)

“By your will, master. I’ll see it done.”

These were the sinister words uttered from the hologram by none other than Darth Seducus, the vile apprentice of Darth Crudelis. Otherwise known by his other name, Malov, the handsome, chiseled Zeltron male was disguised in a servant’s robes, specifically the attire of Sylx’s manse. As his master had been scouting his opposition, Malov had conned his way into dressing as an inconspicuous butler in the Sylx residence, hiding in plain sight while his master tried to sway him and his supporters. While Umbarans were not common in hiring otherworlders, Malov had a very convincing way with words, not to mention his connection with the force had made his appeal all the more convincing. He had also had a few assassins hired in Sylx’s manse as well, shapeshifting Clawdites from his Trubba the Hutt days all working in tandem with him, preparing for the moment when his master would issue the command to wipe the slate clean.

And today was that day, as soon as he made his confirmation the hologram blinked out quickly. Malov’s pleasant smile only turned more sinister as he turned to one of his compatriots, a female Umbaran also dressed in servant’s garbs, more than likely this was another Clawdite working with Malov, but from an outsider's perspective there would be no way to be sure.

“Well, it’s time for Sylx’s time in office to be cut dreadfully short.” Malov said to the girl, who gave a simple nod in return. “Let’s deliver the old favorite...what was it Trubba called it? The ‘Order 66’ package? Let’s go with that.”

“Fine, we’ll rig an electrical failure in Sylx’s estate to kill him, the people we have stationed in Sylx’s supporters manor’s will all suffer similar…accidental fates.” The Umbaran woman responded, following the Zeltron as he briskly walked down to the service exit of Sylx’s manse. “Are you going to be contributing?”

“I’m afraid not. You heard my master….I have other orders.” He replied, pulling off the shirt of his finely crafted uniform and handing it off to the Umbaran, revealing civilian garb underneath. “I trust those we have in the wings can take care of our goals, but I have a meeting to get to.”

“As you wish, my lord.” Was the last words the Umbaran woman said before turning off back into the hallways, allowing Malov to get to his speeder in privacy. With no time to waste, Malov hopped in and stepped on the gas, launching himself into the dark Umbaran sky. He knew he only had a short time to intercept those two Jedi before they made their way off planet. He had to act fast, and be convincing. He knew the link to their comms, the Jedi comm links were easily obtainable during his stay in the Sylx manse, as the Jedi had been there a few times. Taking a few breaths, he opened up the channel.

“Jedi? Jedi I know you may have other business matters at hand off-world, but I need to talk to you. What’s going on in Umbara right now...it’s big. I know you’ve been talking with Umbaran diplomats all week, but...but there is more. There is something going on deep underneath the surface...it’s big. I don’t know who might be listening to this conversation, but…please meet me at the bar near the airport. I’ll explain everything there, please hurry.”

Got them. He clicked the comms off just before they were able to respond. He knew a Jedi would not be able to ignore something like that, and the message was too urgent for them to wire to any other jedi. He also had speed on his side, navigating the airways fast enough to get there long before the Jedi would get to the bar.

More than enough time to set a trap.

By the time he got there, the bar was already fairly empty. While not many Umbarans were drinkers, there were always a percentage interested in going somewhere to let off some steam. However, it was still mid-day, most were at work or home, the bars were nearly empty, a few drunken deadbeats and barkeeps were all that populated the rooms. It did not take the long to sweet talk every patron in the bar, using either his natural talents or the force, to ‘take a break for a few minutes, go for a walk, clear your head’.

Within minutes, the bar had emptied, the stage was set, his Sith Robes and Armor were waiting in his speeder, his lightsaber in his belt. He sat down at the empty table, taking a quick sip of ale before pulling down his mask.

He was ready, the stage was set for the first jedi confrontation, and he would be victorious.

The diplomats arrived within a few minutes, he could see that they were well aware this could be a trap by their sabers already in hand as they entered the empty establishment. Of course, they would meet no frantic servant, but they would see no hired hitman today either.

No, today they would meet a Sith, sitting alone in the bar, waiting for them.

“It’s about time you showed up, Jedi.” Darth Seducus uttered, slowly rising from his seat. “I was beginning to think you wouldn’t take the bait...but your kind...it’s easy to manipulate you. All it takes is one little servant to speak up, and you come running. No second thoughts, no plan...you just come, and think your abilities will carry you through whatever confrontation comes.”

The jedi did not respond, instead choosing to ignite their lightsabers. Malov was disappointed, they were smart enough to know better than trying to reason with him. He was hoping to have a nice dialog, but they were already blocking him out.

Darth Seducus, slowly rising from his chair, ignited his own lightsaber, a bright crimson, clearly defining his alignment. “Fine. Have it your way.” And with a motion, he beckoned the Jedi to come at him. One of the diplomats was quick to beckon his challenge, charging forward with a thrust in an attempt to get him in the shoulder.

A novice move, these Jedi had not had much time fighting another lightsaber wielder from the looks of it. With a quick sidestep and a raised swipe, Darth Seducus had removed the jedi’s hand from his person. Before he was even able to scream, the red lightsaber met the Jedi’s neck, tossing their head to the side and sending the body to the ground.

“What? That’s all you could muster?” Seducus taunted at the body, glancing over to the other diplomat. “Is that what your kind is trained to do? I’m disappointed...I thought Jedi were better than making such blatant and stupid moves. You certainly know how to lower my expectations.”

That was enough, the second Jedi was coming at him, already Seducus could detect the rising anger in him as he swung his green saber in quick, decisive cuts. This was a much more talented Jedi, trained in the way of Makashi, his attacks were timed, well-placed, and quick. While Seducus was ready with a parry at each attack, there was no opening like the first Jedi. This was a trained person, their physical skill was actually a match for Seducus’ attacks.

However, Seducus was more than prepared with a physical match for himself. His words would be the death of this jedi.

“Hmm….judging by the form and talent, along with the fact you aren’t dead yet, I’m taking it you are the master in this relationship?” Malov asked, pushing a stab to the side. “Which, by the process of elimination, that would mean that decaying body back there was the apprentice...a true shame that you did not teach him better, huh? He barely stood a chance, how could you let him move first?”

He could feel the Jedi’s anger welling up, his attacks getting more aggressive, his attacks becoming more frantic. Time to deliver the punchline.

“Or...was it that you couldn’t control him? You never could? Was this your first Padawan? He was a child, barely over a youngling, and you let him die. Now you have to go back to the Council and tell them you’re a failure, how sad.”

That did it, the Jedi screamed and launched a strong downward swing aiming for his head, his weight completely off-center. This was more than enough for Seducus to push the Jedi off-balance, long enough to drive his lightsaber through the Jedi’s chest as he stumbled back, unable to parry the quick assault.

As the Jedi slumped onto Seducus’ shoulder, he was quick to deliver one last stinging sentence before the veteren diplomat perished.

“Pathetic, just like your Padawan.” Seducus said to the Jedi’s ear. “Don’t feel too bad, though. You won’t be alone in your death...I’ll make sure the whole Jedi Order will join you.”

With that last spiteful comment, Darth Seducus pushed the dying Jedi off of his lightsaber, sinking to the floor. It wouldn’t be long before the patrons and barkeeps came back, Seducus was quick to lift their bodies with a simple Force Life and hurry out the back exit. He dumped the bodies in a dumpster, covering them with a hefty bit of garbage before departing. It would take a long time for anyone to find the dead Jedi, and by then Seducus would be long gone. However, he would make sure to call one of the Clawdites on planet and smuggle the bodies to the nearest incinerator, just to be safe.

“Master, it’s done.” Darth Seducus said, hopping into his speeder as the patrons all began to return, unaware of the assassination that had just taken place. “I will meet you shortly.”

Star Wars: Rise of the New Empire (Accepting new players)

Sorry for the tardiness of my post, especially to @Cold Hands who has been waiting so patiently, I'll have my reply up tonight, hopefully my next posts won't be so sporadic.

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG (Closed)

<Snipped quote by Tearstone>

The one I have been talking about for the past week or so...

@Dedonus

Looks like War-Pulse better get Angel out of superjail in time for this!

Create-A-Hero: A Superhero RPG (Closed)

My thoughts exactly.