Event | Satellite | Spectres!

[ironwood]

Characters: Any and all!
Date: May 23 - 26, 2013
Location: Keeliai, turtleside, ARSHEPHELIOS cluster remains
Situation: Repairs and salvage operations operating innocently have triggered an invasion of spectres that possess and wreak havoc upon all they see.
Warnings/Rating: Please put CW in your subject lines

Satellite Crash Event

Crash Landing | Salvage Party | Shocking Spectres


Questions | Keeliai | ARSHEPHELIOS


Salvage is sweet, but not all is well on board the ARSHEPHELIOS cluster. The seamless cylinders salvaged from debris and the cluster, now being frequently traded, turn out to be pods the first time one is penetrated or cracked open. Each breached pod releases a flood of energy-based apparitions hellbent on world domination -- or, more accurately, person domination (and it's not the fun kind).

These apparitions -- spectres, if you will -- are driven by a need to protect the technology of the satellite cluster that their pods are associated with. They will stop at nothing to see this through. Each is immune to physical attacks, but seem to be injured or dissipated entirely by things like electrical shock or other energy-based projections. If people touch them, there is also a brief window of vulnerability, but it acts also like a door that swings both way. Through contact, these spectres can and will invade one's psyche, take over their body and cause them to attack friend or foe alike! Should the possessed body be subjected to sufficient electrical shock, the possession should fade. Strong natural will can also drive the spectres out, but it is no walk in the park to do so. Possession is not the only tool in the arsenal, for these spectres use electricity as their main offensive weapon. They'll leave deep-tissue burns on anyone they fight, and show no degree of fatigue after constant use of it.

Ten thousand of these creatures will be freed from pods, resulting in a veritable flood of Keeliai, the turtleside, and the satellite cluster. With such a driven enemy, it comes down to killing or being killed.

Meanwhile, those taking shelter indoors may notice that the spectres will get into the biomechanical functions of Keeliai. Consoles will be malfunctioning during this time, with lines of mysterious code and strange, ghostly images. One might hear people screaming for help or hours of patchy radio static.

Comments

[notdreaming]

[ Kara sees Traci, and although the body doesn't seem to recognize her the mind does. She screams at her body to stop, but it turns to the girl with a great block of brick and wood joined by cement held high over her head.

You'd better watch out, Traci, because that block is headed in your direction at about twenty miles an hour. ]

[urbanmagic]

[Too fast too late can't cast a spell--

Traci jumps out of the way instead, crashing onto the ground with the grace of a flailing duck before she grits her teeth and aims a short energy spell at her, realizing belatedly that her staff had flown a bit further and that's the only thing keeping her sane in this situation. She could already feel how the city's anguish is creeping into her mind as she move to grab it.

Oh no.] Number one rule? Never mess with a magician and her staff. [And that's when she aims too fire blasts are her, moving ahead to go grab the staff before the situation gets out of her control.]

[notdreaming]

[ She zips between the blasts, flying in close. One hits her straight in the chest. It doesn't seem to bother her even a little. Lighting seems to play around her fingers, ready to zap out - but she pauses, and inside Kara cheers. ]

I can think of a more imperative rule. Never miss with me.

[ Not so lucky. Her body pulls back the electrified hand and releases a punch with only a tiny fraction of her full strength. It knows that its best weapon is the electricity, but it's also programmed to punch things. Apparently a lot.

Good job Kara. ]

[urbanmagic]

[Well, that's going to be painful. She was only inches away from the staff when she gets blasted away, crashing painfully against the wall behind her and slumping, the hit being a lot weaker than she'd expect from someone called super, but the impact of her head against the concrete was what dazed her, long enough to render her disoriented.

Well, that was bad, wasn't it?]

[ooc; also I think Hulk can come in after Kara's response? She'll take a bit to recover.]

[notdreaming]

[ With the girl knocked out, the creature taking control of Kara's body grows bored. She has other people to terrify out of her way. Then she can recover the lost technology without any trouble. ]

[ooc | good idea! ]

[angermanaging]

[Hulk is never great at discriminating between friend and foe to start with, and right now, with the entire city crawling with enemies, it's especially hazy. He's getting frustrated trying to fight things that he has to use his hands on directly-- throwing things, both objects and people, are one of his favorite ways to smash-- and when he sees a blonde girl zipping through the air, very much physical, he doesn't hesitate.

He jumps onto a nearby building, sinking his fists into the brick to get a hold, and hauls himself up into another jump forcefully. It only takes a few of these before he's high enough to push off and try to land on her mid-air, drag her down to the ground, screaming out a challenge.]

[notdreaming]

[ Oh Rao, a great green behemoth is flying at her out of the sky and event internally Kara cringes. She takes the blow, falling fast and hard into the turtle below, and with a great shout she kicks up at the beast with most, if not all of her strength. ]

Get off!

[angermanaging]

[Hulk isn't expecting the force with which she kicks back, and he's tossed away, slamming onto the ground and leaving an enormous impact crater in the pavement.

He's up a second later, crawling out of the rubble and snarling. The injuries are healing even as he gets to his feet.]

[notdreaming]

[ She rises back into the air once she's out from under him, her eyes glowing red as she prepares to hit him with the heat vision. For once Kara is dismayed at just how difficult she is to injure. But it looks like Hulk is just as difficult. She's cheering him on, though he can't hear it.

Meanwhile her body, still heating up for an eye blast, brings a fist bearing down on him at super speed. ]

[angermanaging]

[Never a fast learner, Hulk has to learn by experience, and has never seen someone with glowing red eyes before. So he doesn't think to avoid that. He focuses on the threat he does understand, her fist.

As he comes out of the rubble he grabs a massive piece of twisted steel girder from the wreckage, swinging it up to block her hit. Hulk isn't fast enough to counter super speed on his own, and using the girder as a shield makes him much harder to hit.]

[notdreaming]

[ She smashes into the girder, both with her fist and the heat vision. Then she backs up as the metal begins to melt, keeping it up and hoping to break the whole thing in half. These powers of hers are useful. Obviously it found a good host. ]

[angermanaging]

[The girder isn't enough to resist it for long-- it cuts through and the beam hits him directly, making him scream in surprise and rage at the pain. Not much actually hurts the Hulk, but this does it.

A second later he brings up one half of the cut beam to block it again. The other half is in his off hand, and he uses the few seconds he has before the heat vision breaks through again to hurl it at her in an arc, trying to hit her and break her concentration.]

[notdreaming]

[ She wasn't expecting that, and she can't see as well when she uses the heat vision. The girder slams right into her head and the heat rays stop as a hand goes up to where it hit. ]

Blast it that hurt!

[angermanaging]

[Hulk doesn't waste any time-- he needs to prevent her from flying away or getting enough distance to use heat vision again. The halves of the girder get thrown away and he charges forward, trying to grab her physically and follow up with a punch.]

[notdreaming]

[ She can only roar as he grabs hold of her, taking the hit and offering one in return, a punch as well as a kick. She didn't want to be trapped like this. ]

[angermanaging]

[They end up grappling for control, and while Hulk is ruthlessly violent, it's also hard to hold onto someone so much smaller than him when she's as fast as she is. And the retaliatory hits hurt.

He ends up taking a lot of hits, but he just grunts at each one and tries to push her back against something and box her in, whether a building or an abandoned car.]

[notdreaming]

[ She slams into the wall hard, and though it doesn't seem to hurt her much it does impede her movement even more. Inside Kara is cheering, he's doing a great job of keeping her contained. Unfortunately now she's a little concerned. He's tough, and... she's not sure she's going to survive this encounter. ]

[angermanaging]

[Now that she's pinned against the wall, it's much easier to get a hold on her, and Hulk completely forgets any strategic intention not to let her get distance between them. She's much more of a threat far away, as he's a far stronger close range fighter, and she's fast enough to avoid things thrown at her-- he knows that already.

But as always, his rage blanks out conscious thought and gets away from him. With a rumbling shout of victory, he uses his hold to fling her off to the side and across the street, the force of his throw enough to propel her quite a ways.]

[urbanmagic]

[It had taken her a bit to get her bearings back. In between angry super girls and angry green monsters, it did speed up the process enough for her to realize that this was an opportunity that knocked on the door. During the commotion, she had been able to grab her staff, feeling less tense with it by her side before she realized that there was a blonde being hurled at her at who knows how many miles per hour and she barely manages to move before Kara crashes into her, knocking the breath out of her as she crashes back to the ground again.

Her muscles are going to hate her come morning, she can feel it. So, so glad that the others didn't see her moment of epic fail.

That didn't last long though, because with Kara here that meant that she might also have a chance to actually zap her close range after all.]

[notdreaming]

[ Kara went flying, too fast and not far enough for her to change directions. She hit the girl and flipped, hitting her head and shoulders and even her nose. It didn't hurt so much as twinge, but it was enough to stun her for a moment. She snarled at Traci, but her attention was still on Hulk. ]

[angermanaging]

[Hulk hasn't been diverted, either. To cover the distance between them, he at first starts to walk, and then full on run, gaining speed as he moves across the street until it's a flat out charge.

It's reckless and completely devoid of strategy, and he isn't even looking at Traci.]

[urbanmagic]

Sorry, but I need you on my side. [She quips when she sees both of them snarling like angry animals, hands reaching out to grab Kara's face and---

Well, if you weren't expecting an electrical shock, expect one now.

Once that's out of the way, she quickly throws up a forcefield, hoping that'll keep the Hulk busy for a while.]

[notdreaming]

[ Kara's fist goes back, ready to punch the girl, when suddenly she's being electrocuted right in the face. She doesn't even feel it, not really. She just hears herself screaming. And then she wakes up, she takes control, and as the shock fades the pain comes in and holy Rao it hurts to e electrocuted in the face.

Luckily she's been more or less aware this whole time. ]

Traci? What did you do?!

[angermanaging]

[Hulk runs smack into the force field and screams in anger, rebounding off of it and skidding back a pace or two. He immediately starts hammering away at it with his fists, heavy, slow punches that could punch through solid steel like it was paper.]

[urbanmagic]

Just a little wake-up call. It was the fastest way I could think of. [And since she's still a Super, she figured she can handle the shock.]

Good to see you awake, sleeping beauty. [And then she gestures at the Hulk, still keeping the forcefield up.] Your friend's been cranky and I don't think I can keep this up. [In fact, the strain of keeping the field up when he can hammer through it like that was showing with the way she's struggling to keep it from blinking out.]