A Deadly Gift (open CVnU RP)

The Volley is a Kalari light cruiser. Used primarily for reconnaissance and exploration, its armaments were fairly light, the resources spent on its construction focused more on its ability to store provisions for its crew and equipment used for scientific analysis and long-range communication. It also sported one of the most advanced warp engines the militant civilization had ever developed, which enabled it to traverse some of the most formidable stretches of open space without the need for refueling. Though its crew, like all Kalari, received a basic degree of combat training, none of them truly specialized in this arena; the prevailing thought being that the vessel would be too mobile and not contain enough valuable cargo to make it an attractive target for either enemy vessels or random pirates.

Unfortunately, some pirates have goals other than riches, and are not daunted by a challenge…

Erinys Draconis unceremoniously yanked her blade from the corpse of the Volley’s captain, contemptuously kicking his corpse across his bridge to slam against the far bulkhead with a dull thud. She casually held her blade out behind her, and one of her lackeys darted up, subserviently wiping the weapon clean of blood with a scrap of fabric torn from the uniform of another member of the unfortunate crew. “Report,” she snapped, as one of her lieutenants approached, casually cleaning his own blade.

“Got ‘em all,” he replied, his severe posture and reverent salute at odds with his cavalier manner of speaking. “Couple of ‘em are still alive; some of the lads wanted a bit of sport, and I figured they earned it.”

“As long as they’re dead by the time we leave this vessel,” the interstellar privateer answered with a dismissive wave of her free hand as she sheathed her freshly-cleaned blade. “Fetch the tech; his work isn’t yet done.”

“Already here, ma’am.” The aforementioned “tech” was the perfect opposite of the lieutenant: disheveled clothing and a posture that evoked an image of skulking vermin, but speaking in a tone that implied respect, if not outright reverence, for his commander. He slunk over to the control panel and began feverishly carrying out his instructions, all the while muttering to himself. “Override complete...timed autopilot engaged...target: Sol 3, colloquially known as ‘Earth’...hypermatter processors set to overload and self-destruct at estimated time of arrival...and, done.”

Erinys nodded and turned to the lieutenant. “Tell the ‘lads’ to finish up their fun and get back to their ships. This one is about to become an interstellar ballistic missile.”

Rules:

• This is an open CVnU RP
• The ship will be able to be detected by Earth technology when it is ten days from impact
• If it strikes the planet, it will self-destruct in a 50,000 megaton explosion (not enough to threaten the planet, but enough to do some serious damage at the point of impact)

God damn. I would go myself, but unfortunately I’m loaded as it is, hopefully someone else can get on the defensive. Great work as always, Nordok!

@cutting_edge: Thank you! :)

@erinys_draconis: You're welcome!

😈

When I make my post you will see you created this RP for me 😈

@catalina_liafador: I eagerly await. >:)

In, gotta find out with who first.

@phantomshell:

@luke_jackson: @red_jay: >:D

@erinys_draconis: She scorpioned his ass

@erinys_draconis: we’ll be posting in this thread correct?

@red_jay: Yep! I'm too casual for a separate OOC, lol.

@nordok: I'm assuming we're within our 10-day window?

Don't answer that, PM sent

I wanna say I'm in buuuuuuut I'm also super behind in everything i'm involved LOL So i'll leave a maybe in there

I could have used that answer though lol

@cesc_bo_vera: @shanana: In all fairness, I should probably establish that, lol. Let's say that the clock starts ticking once the first IC post goes up.

In it.

@luke_jackson

𝕭𝖑ü𝖉𝖘𝖙𝖔𝖓𝖊 𝕮𝖎𝖙𝖞 𝖃 𝖀𝖓𝖉𝖎𝖘𝖈𝖑𝖔𝖘𝖊𝖉 𝕷𝖔𝖈𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓

Sporting a Rolex GMT-Master II on his left wrist and a Gala Invitation held in the other, Damon Ford casually stepped out of the Black Limousine with a devil's glare and posh stride. “How do you feel Luke? Nervous? The paparazzi could get pretty out-of-hand,” he teased the Hercules look-alike beside him, keeping the same smirk. Rolled out from the car itself and the entrance to the Event, a Red Velvet carpet laid freshly steamed.

Screams and Flashes of Paparazzi came from each and every conceivable way. Though with the effort of at least ten muscular guards, those who stepped out of the Limousine were granted passage into the Gala.

"Oh lord, that's bright" Damon commented on the foyer's chandelier as it almost blinded him to the point of looking away. "Heard someone important was supposed to give a speech, never heard who though."

Traveling further into the large Marble Complex, Damon beckoned Luke towards in slight excitement. "Let's find our table first. Table 17."

Gleefully striding, Damon searched for their assigned table until he finally found it. Before he could take a seat, a man of slight masculinity stepped up onto an Oak Podium that overlooked all of the patrons.

"Ahem,"the man attempted to gain the visitor's undivided attention. "Oh Jesus," Damon amusingly remarked, finally taking a seat into one of eight seats that revolved around the table.

"Ahem." he tried again, but successfully, "Wow, that's quite a lot of you. I want to thank each and every one of you for showing up to this year's annual Blüdstone Charity Gala!" applause filled the room, including Damon's very own.

Somewhere in the Verboten Zone

~aboard the AKaree Coda~

'Whatya doing? Looks important.' a soft soothing voice inquisitively asked with child like interest.

"Working." Bo-Vera's initial response was short distracted and slightly frustrated. "I'm sorry. Its not you, its this."motioning towards the Ipad like device in front of him in aggravation. The space age tablet had been charting the interstellar voyage of the Volley, but much to the unexpected bewilderment of the former Phantomshell, it had seemingly deviated from its pre-filed galactic flight plan.

A flight plan Bo-Vera had spent a month - and sizable investment - scoping out in anticipation of high-jacking the poorly armed exploratory vessel. A floating loot crate just waiting to be hit by the Tru Thief of Titan. And now, it was gone.

"An hour ago the Volley was here"using his finger as a 'stylist' to move the screen around. "Which should put her right....here. Even if it suffered catastrophic engine failure that would still put it along a path....here. But see? Nothing."He sighed, retreated backwards deeper into his chair while rubbing his chin. Confused, curious, and intrigued.

"What if somebody else hit her first?" the angelic voice reasonably asked with canvasing cadence.

"They'd of had to of been pretty good to hit, take, redirect in all under an hour. Unlikely but...but not impossible. Widen the range and hurry. We dont have the fuel for a prolonged excursion."

@damon_ford:

𝕭𝖑ü𝖉𝖘𝖙𝖔𝖓𝖊 𝕮𝖎𝖙𝖞 𝖃 𝖀𝖓𝖉𝖎𝖘𝖈𝖑𝖔𝖘𝖊𝖉 𝕷𝖔𝖈𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓

The Manhunter of Mars looked at his friend and partner Damon Ford and his eyes glinted as he gazed out the doors of the limousine. Luke's broad shoulders were clad in the black of his undercoat as he took a glance at his phone and put it back in his pocket. As the Limo halted to a stop and rolled to the red carpet.

“How do you feel Luke? Nervous? The paparazzi could get pretty out-of-hand,”

Luke had tousled dark brown hair, which was thick and lustrous. His eyes were a mesmerizing deep ocean blue, flecks of silvery light danced in his irises. His face was strong and defined, his features molded from granite. He had dark eyebrows, which sloped up in a mischievous expression. His usually serious expression was replaced with a playful smile had drawn a new expression onto his face.

"Excited most definitely, I don't get out much unless I'm in the red and blue, you know that." Stepping out of the car Luke was taken slightly aback as cameras and lights shot into his hyper-being eyes making him close his eyes to let them adjust.

Screams pierced his ears and hands attempted to grab the Man Of Steel, and he would smile and look around as they all caught glimpse of him. Without his glasses the alien was recognizable as the superbeing Prime, and he was no longer telepathically manipulating minds to make others not recognize the resemblance.

Walking inside Luke looked at the glittering room as a chandelier hung ahead. The chandelier alone was worth more than the combined annual incomes of all the palace staff. It dripped with the best cut diamonds and was made from white gold and Luke smiled.

"Ahem

A voice cut through the air trying and failing to capture everyone's attention.

"Ahem."

He tried again, this time successfully,

"Wow, that's quite a lot of you. I want to thank each and every one of you for showing up to this year's annual Blüdstone Charity Gala!

Luke would bring his powerful hands together and begin to clap, taking extra caution to not clap too hard. Looking around Luke spotted the Outlaw himself Thomas Richards seated with a grin on his face as he clapped loudly with his teenaged adopted son Damian seated next to him looking incredibly bored. Taking his eyes off the vigilante Luke would focus his attention once again on the speaker.

@luke_jackson: Nice little cameo with Thomas there, neat!

@red_jay:

Thought about adding him to be honest, if Nordok doesn't mind double characters that's prolly the plan.

And Thanks!

@erinys_draconis:

Hal is a member of the Justice League Alliance and he loves it there! Hey, they have great cookies! He thinks to himself with a smile, thinking of Blubber. The rotund hero has a heart of gold and he brings something special to the team they didn't possess before. But suddenly, as Hal flies from the Moon to Earth, his ring picks up something.

Warning! Unknown object detected.

Hal stops in mid-flight, his emerald ring making sure to provide that air tight force around him so he can breathe in space. He doesn't know the science behind it, he just goes with the flow. He's an artist and a reporter not a scientist. Although sometimes he wishes he was.

Curious about what his ring detected, he asks, "Where is it?"

The object has passed Pluto and is on an approach vector to Earth. Estimated time to arrival in--

Hal interrupts, "Nevermind that, I'll be investigating this. if this is yet another alien invasion then I'll be the first responder. How long until Earth knows?" Hal begins flying in the direction of the ship, having ZERO clue what he's getting himself into.

It will be several hours, perhaps days, before Earth is aware of the object's approach.

Plenty of time, Hal thinks. But things are about to get a lot more interesting...

@lamartheslayer: Double's fine. This is just a random thing I threw out for everyone to play with, so I'm not too concerned about there being a lot of rules or restrictions.

If the shuttle gets stopped too easily, I'll just throw something nastier at you all, next time. >;)

@nordok:

Awesome! And I assumed you had other things lined up in play seeing how the powerhouses like Luke and Green Sentinel appeared. Plus you're a tricky one...

@luke_jackson: (Don't mind Reese, just an NPC for the introductory for now :)

“My name is Reese Gallani, as most of you may know, the host of tonight’s event and, well, every event.” Subtle behaved laughter followed Galliani’s witty remark; though Damon sat hushed. “And I am also pleased to say that tonight marks the 28th Blüdstone Private Gala, or did I say that already?” Again, laughter and applause streamed from the snobbish patrons.

“I’m going to get a drink, I can’t stand this fool’s voice,” Damon whispered towards Luke, slowly emerging from his seat and swiftly maneuvering through the tables until he reached the bar. “Want anything?” He silently asked Luke in a whisper despite the fact that the New Age Superman sat across the room. But Damon knew his hearing could pick it up.

Inaudible in the background, Reese comes into a conclusion of most likely rehearsed speech, leading to the room flaring with life once again as he stepped off the podium.

“You guys have water?”

@cesc_bo_vera:

Miami, Florida

“Wooooo!”

Candis tossed her arms carelessly into the air as disco lights blazed against her caramel skin and the bass pouring from the speakers around her vibrated throughout her body. Her hips writhed in slow motion, the rhythm of her movements matching that of the song with an unaffected wildness. Her inhibitions shed, she eagerly drank in the pleasure in every passing moment.

“Here you go, doll. Bottoms up!”

A man she recognized vaguely from earlier that evening handed her a small glass of clear liquid. Since arriving on Earth she had learned there were many magic drinks similar to this one, and that humans used them to manipulate their senses. Candis didn’t understand the overwhelming appeal, as she never seemed to achieve the same results, however she had observed that those around her seemed pleased when she agreed to partake in the activity.

Taking the shot glass she threw her head back, letting the hot liquid slide easily down her throat.

“Thank you kind sir. Come, we must dance and celebrate now!”

She grabbed his hand, oblivious to his dumbfounded reaction, and pressed his body close against hers before relinquishing her physicality back to the music.

She had attended countless dances on Venus, but they had always been formal, stuffy affairs to her. On Earth, humans enjoyed the activity in the most unceremonious of places. It excited her endlessly to experience something so new and foreign. She spent most of her time aboard the Aurora, but whenever she could, she snuck down to the cities and towns on Earth to join the parties that raged through the night.

“You want to get out of here, babe?”

The man’s voice appeared in her ear. She had nearly forgotten he was there. Where else could he want to go?

Before she could question the meaning of his words, a small device in her pocket caught her attention. Given to her by Achilles, the technology allowed her to stay in communication with the Aurora and its residence.

Foreign Aircraft Detected Entering Atmosphere

Her eyebrows furrowed inquisitively as she read the alert. The animal antics around her faded in her mind, and a sense of duty took over her.

“Sorry, I have to go now. This was fun!” she exclaimed with a smile that gleamed with a charming naivety. She placed a kiss upon the man’s mouth, to his shock and delight. It was the friendly thing to do as far as she knew.

Atlantic Ocean

Candis’ fiery hair lit up the vast black sky around her. She hovered motionless, somewhere over the Atlantic ocean. The water beneath her gleamed with an obsidian mystery perhaps even more unknown than the endless space above it. This is where the foreign aircraft had been last detected, before slipping through any attempts to further track its whereabouts.

Candis elevated herself higher into the night sky, hoping to catch any signs of an advanced aircraft. She felt a deep sense of purpose within her, one that called on her to protect this planet in ways she could not protect her own.

Day of Reckoning

"Time for a stroll"

The street seemingly spontaneously combust. Plumes of smoke and flames plowed through infrastructure transforming a single street of downtown Philadelphia into what appeared to be a war zone.

On brand with The High Queen's wishes, the Prime Ninjan transplant began her assault on the world city by city until the book stolen from the library was returned. She didn't care for the book; her initial plan was to bide her time until a way out of this universe present itself, but she could no longer disregard Ishara's wishes; not when the consequences saw her being rejoined with her emotions.

The Calamity Queen cursed as she plowed through her destruction the dense smoke yielding to her presence as flew by. On the far end of the block, she could see people running and screaming in fear. Pressing her telltale golden locks behind her ears a smile slithered across her face a bit proud.

"And I was showing restraint" She gloated. This was the best way to gain the attention she wanted; someone had the book, or someone knew who did. She needed to be patient. Plowing her hands into the charred pavement, fatal tendrils tremored through the ground impaling anyone unlucky enough to have stumbled over them.

Those not lucky enough to meet their end at the fire and brimstone just a half block away met their end on the end of Sha's lifeforce drain. As she moved through the streets clothes missing their owners littered the second portion of the block; as she proceeded on to the next one.

On the third block, the Sovereign Slaughterer slowly closed her hands triggering a devastating magnetic pull, which brought buildings down on both sides of the streets. "Yes continue screaming because that will help you run faster" She antagonized moving on to the next block.

@the_championess:

Pillars of smoke left the sky black and wretched, and the smell of death climbed out the corpses left dismembered in Shayla's wake. Gods of death and war applauded the screams she so cruelly inspired, yet as she tore Philadelphia asunder, the heavens parted - and the Great One descended. His scarlet cape spread wide, as if to shield the stars above from the smoke below.

"Shayla", Thee Champion began, voice rolling like thunder, and his eyes meeting hers with Roman reserve.

"You should save me the time, and surrender". He never landed, instead hovering an inch above ground, his arms crossed over his chest, and his power far greater now than when he and Shayla's paths last crossed. Thee Champion gave little credence to the crises of man, he had come for one thing and one thing only - to enact the final stages of his rebellion against the Universal Judges. A plan to which Shayla was key.

"But, considering you're you, and you respond more to physical stimuli than reason", like most animals, he almost added, "Here. Hit me as hard as you can. Not half as hard or almost as hard. Hit me as hard as you can".

"I promise I won't dodge".

Insert shocked Pikachu meme here lol

✭✭ Aurora, Antarctica ✭✭

In the frozen depths of Earth's harshest continent, an oft-floating fortress sat hidden in it's icy peaks. And behind it's walls, Achilles sat with his mind committed to thoughts of his most recent clash with Nordok, the Ancient One. The loss was no blow to his pride, but his hope. The powers and cosmic sorcery the Ancient One commanded were beyond what he'd expected. In his arrogance, the American God had overlooked a core tenet of his father's teachings; preparation. Cursing himself over the loss of the Strong Cube, Achilles soon found his eyes drawn to the cool glow of Aurora's A.I.

Blue and shifting from cube to pyramid and back again, it hung in the air and answered Achilles' curious stare with curiosity of it's own.

||-Something on your mind, sir?-||.

"The last battle with Nordok. He has one of five Omega Cubes now, and seems... impossible to destroy", the American God sighed, his brow heavy with the weight of frustration.

||-May I suggest trapping him in an entirely independent region of space-time set to undergo vacuum decay?-||, the A.I. proposed, drawing the subtle curl of a smile from the American God.

Yet as his thoughts on the A.I.'s proposal sat on his tongue, Achilles was cut short before ever beginning. The sensors aboard Aurora flared a storm of information into the A.I.

||-Ah, it seems your father is here, on Earth, I mean. And an unidentified object is speeding towards Earth-||.

"Forget the old man", Achilles dismissed, almost leaping from his seat, "He can take care of himself. I wanna know what about this unidentified object. Send some probes into orbit ASAP, and prepare the Eagle for potential spaceflight. I don't know too many good things that've come to Earth from space".

||-Your father? Candis?-||, the A.I. countered.

"Touché".

My name is Reese Gallani, as most of you may know, the host of tonight’s event and, well, every event.”

Luke's eyes narrowed in instant distaste. His unrestricted and unparalleled senses instantly caught the smugness in this man's voice to the highest decibel and it disgusted him. He knew people like him on Luke's homeworld, they were the schemers, the ones with the highest egos, the smugness in his voice just bounced off the walls...and everyone laughed.

Except for Damon.

Except for Luke.

The man continued

“And I am also pleased to say that tonight marks the 28th Blüdstone Private Gala, or did I say that already?”

Another smug remark. More laughs drifted across the gala space and Luke rubbed his eyes with discomfort. This is not my scene. I do not belong here. The Manhunter of Mars looked as his companion and good friend rose from his seat and drifted away with a :

I’m going to get a drink, I can’t stand this fool’s voice,”

Luke would nod and put his head in his hands as he continued to listen, but eventually, he let his senses drift away and he began hearing everything. Screams, laughs, fights, dinners, love all invaded his senses, and he let them expand even further exiting the borders of our planet. He heard screams, combat, and turning his head to the point of the sounds he extended his sight to see if he could catch a glimpse of the conflict.

He saw it all right.

Then Damon's hushed whisper invaded his mind again.

“Want anything?”

In a blur of motion faster than any human eye could even comprehend Luke was beside Damon, "Club Soda. And get it to go."

His eyes would focus on Damon's and his fists would clench as he looked at his friend.

"We have a problem."

@damon_ford@luke_jackson

Bludstone City

A matte silver Rolls Royce Wraith prowled through Bludstone like a haughty ghost in the night. Within the vehicle’s reinforced exterior an even more glamorous vision took place, where Valerie Huntington applied a final layer of shimmering lip gloss to her infamous pout. The modern-day Aphrodite wore a titillating Julien Macdonald Spring 2020 gown, its crystal embellishments reflecting a shower of enchanting light around her. The immaculate surface of her skin shone with equal enthusiasm, having been carefully adorned by her favorite J’adore Shimmer Gel to give the icon a charming sparkle to her every movement. She wore her glamour with a cool air of indifference.

“Let’s skip the main entrance, shall we?”

It occurred to her that there had been a long period of her life where she had viciously fed off of the excitement that came with being the most celebrated arrival at any event. That life seemed like a distant dream to her now, one replaced by her present reality of being a mother and leader of the Mutant Nation of Venezuela. These new responsibilities fulfilled her in ways that the days of her youth never seemed capable of.

The Wraith pulled into a private entrance, where a security member employed by the charity event approached the driver’s window.

“Sorry, sir, but the event started an hour ago. No one’s allowed in or out until it’s over.”

“I have Valerie Huntington with me, as a political guest from Venezuela,” the driver responded.

The security member relayed this information into his headpiece, through which his supervisor’s response caused a slightly embarrassed look to wash over his features.

“Err, sorry, sir. Right this way. We’ll gather some men to escort her in.”

“Thank you kindly. And if you could, Ms. Huntington would prefer to keep her arrival as inconspicuous as possible.”

The security man nodded in understanding, and the Wraith pulled forward toward the Bludstone Charity Gala.

Inside

Despite her best efforts, Valerie could not avoid the turning of heads and steady whispers circulating throughout the room at her arrival. She pretended not to notice, gliding with unaffected grace through the room and settling at the table prepared just moments before for herself and her staff.

“Remember, we aren’t here for socialties. We’re here to find him and get what information we can,” she spoke softly to her personal assistant seated next to her. Despite the sensitive business matters occupying her thoughts, Valerie’s visage displayed a well-trained pleasantness to all who viewed her.

As her icy blue gaze scanned the room for the man she had come to see, her telepathy alerted her to an entirely different circumstance. Her eyes narrowed in on the gala’s bar, where two men she didn’t recognize seemed consumed by something of much greater interest than the speaker rambling endlessly.

“Excuse me,” she addressed her team politely, before exiting her seat to approach the men at the bar. It was uncharacteristic of her to meddle in affairs outside her own interests, however, her instincts told her these strangers were privy to something of importance. And her instincts had yet to fail her.

“Hello, gentlemen. Valerie Huntington,” she introduced herself, her wedding ring dazzling under the room’s lights as she extended a delicate hand. "Enjoying yourselves?"

Dress:

@valerie_huntington: It’s times like these where it really occurs to me that I really need to shave down the amount of RPs I have at any given time. Missed opportunity for Arthur to meet all of these celebrities <_<

Cant lie, I dig the varying angles and plots at play. Highly entertaining beginning.

@duchess:

The Coda shot back into the atmosphere with all of the fiery characteristics of a typical re-entry. As the diatomic molecules of the air broke, creating a sheath of electrically charged plasma around the craft, its thermal protection system began to signal alarms throughout the cockpit.

"We're going too fast."

"I got this."

"Bo!"

"I said I got this."

With practiced skill and a touch of madness Bo-Vera brought the Coda in with a high angled maneuver to generate drag and dissipate the craft's chaotic speed. "Hold onto some'n" he grunted right before performing a hypersonic "S-turn" maneuver to kill off the excess speed. Aerial acrobatics was quickly becoming one of the Man of Nowhere's impressive trademarks. Much to the open revolt of his crew. Or what was left of it.

"Gotdammit dat shit could have gotten us killed!"Keen'Da'Dee was the Coda's engineer and forge master. A former member of the Manufacturing Federation, he carried himself with a great sense of self. A no nonsense type of guy and the only other pure-blooded homo-sapien aboard the Coda. So as the craft stabilized and the rest of the crew sighed with relief, it was Keen who immediately voiced his frustration.

Jamming a stern brown finger into Bo-Vera's chest, "You're gonna get us all killed and I'll be damned if I let that happen. You hear me boi?"

"It fine. We make it. Always, we make it." Diplomatic, the soft spoken voice attempted to soothe Keen's agitation. Viix was the ship's navigator, and while she appeared to be an ordinary human, she was in fact a replicant. A bio-engineered android exclusively manufactured with organic material with a host of customizable attributes.

Since the day Bo-Vera had rescued her from a sexual slave-pit, she had stood by his side. Quick to defend nearly any and all of his moves. Of course having such an invaluable resource getting the Tru Thief of Titan's back only served to fuel his arrogant confidence.

"NO! You always do that dont defend this asshole we nearly died. And for what? Just to come back to Earth following some ship? It aint even here!"

"Whatya mean, Earth?" Bo-Vera suddenly interrupted."Nooo, no no no this aint happening."

"Quit your crying and put your big boy pants on" Syn Orr Dey sarcastically scolded. As the ship's honorary gunsmith, Syn was as hard as she was skilled. If Keen was no nonsense, then Syn was no weakness.

"Easy for you to say Syn. I'm suppose to be dead. You know the rules. Once you've been replicated there's no going home. I.." he was cut off before he could finish,

"Um, there beautiful burning woman outside. " Viix announced. Simultaneously the remaining crew members turned in disbelief. A short time later the Coda touched down on the sand kissed coast and de-boarded. All anticipating an impromptu meeting with the fiery stranger.

"You forget mask." handing Bo one of his many facial sheaths as they exited. One hand remained free, dangling by the outlaws side ready to poetically swim his blaster free of its holster should the meeting devolve into hostilities.

"Hey there. You wouldnt have happened to see another space ship come through here have ya?" An odd question in any situation, never mind for heightened intensity of the situation. But such was Bo-Vera's way.

@luke_jackson: @valerie_huntington:

The very words he didn't want to hear tonight. Lazily looking over towards Luke with a sigh, "what is it? Someone got their cat stuck in a tree?" Obviously Ford didn't expect a serious response from Luke, but those four words did take a strange toll on the Debonairs interest. Glancing from his watch to scanning the room for straggling gazes within the gaze, he looked back towards the Saint of Supers with a dismissive nod, "I think we can slip out." Though as his words did as he suggested, slipping out, the sudden appearance of a quite attention-grasping woman appeared from behind them.

"We have a problem."

Valerie Huntington of Venezuela. He knew who she was, as everyone else in the room did. Though when came royalty also followed whispered glances. "Damon Ford, this is Luke Jackson."

Her hand extended towards the two, Damon took a slight glance towards Luke's stature, then back at Valerie as he held her hand under his shaking it in return.

"Enjoying yourselves?"

"Quite," Damon responded improvising the entire conversation. "Gala's are fun until, well, y'know people like that guy begin talking," Damon pointed towards the beforementioned Reese who was still rambling along. "But my real interest is, why are you here? Here at Blüdstone, out of all the places."

For a quick moment, the Dane shot a glance to Luke urgently, "Hey about that thing you said about earlier, Luke. Y'know that thing about your family,"In attempt in making an artificial background, though at the same time referring to the strange anomaly that Luke was exposed to. "Hear anything else from them yet?"He asked mind racing of the possibilities what the cause might've been.

It was quite a fool's game, playing with the limits of Valerie's mutant telepathy. But luckily for Damon, keeping a strong mind was one of many principles proven worth by Raysh Al Shaytan's, League of Shadows.

@cesc_bo_vera: I like the aesthetic with 'im.

@red_jay: Same. Been in a Shadowrun/Cyberpunk mood lately

I dig the Ninjak look ya got. One of my favs with the Clay Mann art

@cesc_bo_vera: Looks good with Bo.

And thanks!

"what is it? Someone got their cat stuck in a tree?"

A lued smile would creep upon Luke's face as he looked at Damon and he said out loud. "No, just a problem with my tux. I think the bow tie is to tight." Surrounding eyes and prying ears drifted away from their conversation, but at the same time Luke would telepathically voice his words to Damon in the simplest way possible.

Ship in space, it's going to crash. Dead crew, most likely a military hit. We need to GO.

The Soldier of So'lar prepared to rise and leave his seat, the superpowered fibers that made up his being twitched with anticipation, he feet dorsiflexing preparing to spring out of this gala and into space with Damon along. But he heard the footseps of heel clad feet appoaching and he sighed as a feminine voice rang out and caught both of the men's attention.

"Enjoying yourselves?"

God. Thought the telepath

"Yes.Very." He said aloud. Not even pausing before holding out his hand in greeting, introducing himself beside the fact that Damon had done it for him. "Luke Jackson, pleasure to meet you." His jet black hair shined in the light as the Manhunter of Mars gazed upon this dazzling woman and his eyes narrowed slighty. He had given his time for the pleasantries and now the duo had to go, he never skipped a beat as Damon spoke

"Hey about that thing you said about earlier, Luke. Y'know that thing about your family,"

"Yeah, my mother is pretty sick, sorry miss Hunnington but we must get going." Rising from his seat Luke would grab Damon's arm and pulled him in.

"You know her? Something seems off."

The telepathic powerhouse gazed back at her, his mental defenses were all the way up as he gazed at gazed upon the blonde woman.

"Let's go, Damon. Catch you Miss Hunnington."

@cesc_bo_vera: Siiiick. I gotcha soon.