Vetoed (Semi-Open Assault RP) IC

Previously...

Now: Above The Unity

Klaus von Lichter, whether he liked it or not, had become a man of conflict. In the past week, he'd saved the life of the President of the United States, been promoted to Deputy Director of the CIA, and celebrated what he approximated to be his nineteenth birthday. His hands twisted over his father's Death Ray, which he'd torn from the clutches of Central Intelligence itself. Rather than abscond with the device, he'd elected instead to integrate himself with the system, proving his worth as an agent to former Director Donn and winning the favor of the Equalizers. And now, for this operation, he had been chosen to command them.

A surprise attack on Samuel Washington's capital helicarrier was far from unprovoked. The madman had been hovering nuclear-armed helicarriers over American cities for nearly two weeks, driving up the blood pressure of every sane man and woman on Earth and threatening global war. Somehow, it was as though people had grown accustomed to the intimidating presence of the carriers floating gently above, though evacuations had taken place since they'd appeared. Washington had occupied entire cities without so much as firing a single shot.

And it will end tonight, thought the youth, adjusting his weapon's thermal output minutely. His lithe gloved fingers twisted over silver knobs, his motions unaffected by the turbulence surrounding the Equalizers' stealth jet. He was strapped into a passenger seat, magenta facemask covering his face. He'd rearmed himself with all his most potent weapons, as well as summoned the available members of Julius Jones' personal metahuman strike force.

It'd come to his attention that many in his line of work often opted to open with their most powerful attack, attempting to end the story with a single blow. He also knew it would never work. Life obeyed certain rules; one that reoccurred constantly was the inexorable truth that if one opened with their ace, the ace would fail. It was inevitable.

And so, he kept his cards far up his sleeves. At his fingertips, he had the indomitable power of the Equalizers, the support of Maverick Incorporated, the technological prowess of a certain armored ex-President, the magnetic mastery of a malevolent mutant, the goodwill of Director Tyrus (whose conscience would force her to intervene, were the situation to call for it)...and if need be, the Consortium itself. Klaus had come to America with one singular intent: to surpass his father in magnitude of power. Yet, where Otto had broken the law, Klaus would uphold it as a post-mortem screw-you to his DNA provider, and with relentlessness the world had never seen.

He stood, in the middle of the jet, turning to address his unfamiliar squad. He did not know some, but they all knew him as the Magenta Rogue who'd helped save Quentin. He crossed his hands behind his back, and issued his order.

"No civilian casualties. But the terrorists? Rain hell."

@lichter:

Solaris removed the thin cigar from her mouth and put it out on the palm of her hand, incinerating the object in the process so as to avoid littering. She didn't feel any effects of smoking of course, it was just something she did to fit her off duty persona and since it couldn't harm it, it didn't matter. She blew the smoke out of the open door. "I don't kill." She said simply and adjusted her aviators. She'd all but given up on telling others the virtues of not killing. It had taken almost a year but she'd come to realize that Humans just weren't capable of that kind of morality. It saddened the ancient star greatly, but it was what it was. She stepped up towards the opening in the back of the plane. Solaris' power set and abilities were relatively known to the public, her origin were not. She had no idea if the CIA Agent had been informed of her origins or not but she didn't much care either.

The thirteen billion year old living star jumped from a perfectly good airplane. In mid fall she increased her external temperature until her disguise uniform (of which she had quite a few) incinerated to reveal the truth beneath it. Solaris' identity with the Equalizers was as a test pilot for various aircraft under a false name, to the public, the entity known as Solaris had disappeared some time ago. She smiled to herself as she revealed her identity to team mates that may well have been unaware, but the smile was because of the freedom she felt while falling through the air. She watched the hellicarrier go by, biding her time for the right moment. At long last it came as she fell past the keel and suddenly activated her flight ability.

Solaris flew at the carrier from below, bursting towards it fast enough to break the sound barrier multiple times, a collection of sonic booms announcing her less than stealthy approach...which was the point. She had some of the highest durability among the Equalizers, she could afford to draw the carrier's attention to herself and away from the approaching aircraft. She flew like a streak, a blazing contrail of raging fire swirling behind her as the Living Star made her approach.

She barrel rolled and shot past the Equalizer's craft, careful to avoid damaging it as she flew ahead and straight for the defenses of the carrier. To make sure she drew extra attention the ancient being removed her glasses and slipped them into a pocket. Her eyes burned like twin stars, bright enough to blind the average man if they made eye contact...it was the entire reason for the glasses. Her eyes brightened and twin beams of pure nuclear fusion exploded forward towards the carrier, bent on slicing one of the anti-air defense platforms straight from the deck. The beams traveled at the speed of light, a pair of instant traveling solar flares tightened into potent beams of raw power.

@lichter:

"I wish..." Vai said aloud and caught herself. I wish in the future that stayed true...what a beautiful person...what happened to her? I need to find out more...I need to understand why she destroys the Equalizers in the future. She never denied the charges...she didn't even resist arrest. I guess anyone can be pushed too far...but by what?

She sighed and charged her ring, floating off the deck of the small craft. "Right, don't kill the good guys, got it." She said. She smiled and emerald energy shot from her ring. The energy went out of the craft and wrapped around it like a giant green bubble, a powerful energy shield ready to defend her allies from the fire she knew would be headed their way. "Man...I totally forgot to say 'raise shields!" She shook her head and grinned, looking at Lichter. "Next time, say Raise Shields or something equally cool." She set her feet back on the decking of the small craft and waited with everyone else, protecting it with a powerful emerald shield supported by nothing more than her ring and her inherent strength of will.

I don't know who half these people are. I should stay out of it, I should have never agreed to come along...but...this guy needs to be taken down a notch. Maybe we can create a timeline where things are better for people because Sam Washington doesn't have his ships for nearly as long as he did in my timeline. Maybe if I'm here, I can do something positive. Of course there's still the Final Crisis to worry about, every change in the time stream creates another crack in reality. Even if it's a good crack...heh...good crack. Bad choice of words.

@solarius: @vai: @lichter:

There would be no easy win for either side in this battle, there rarely was. But Garian intended to add to the difficulty of defeating Samuel Washington.

Covered in golden armor, mostly for show and not revealing his true identity, Garian rode in as swift as a bullet standing on a golden carpet. But he was not alone, warriors followed flying and with swords in their hands. Telekinetic and telepathic soldiers trained to outrace sniper bullets and with swordsman ship to kill even some of the greatest of this time. They wore gold as well, underneath protected by diamond linked armor just in case. Each of these men were fast, strong, skilled, smart, and deadly. Not to mention their telekinesis and that each was also chosen because they could generate and manipulate lightning. They were also all well learned in the art of pyrokinesis and thermal manipulation. Their biggest flaw was cold, as fire could only be used to their advantage.

The Golden Knight rose higher into the sky drawing a black bladed sword from his sheath and raising it above his head, through the face mask part of his helmet he said a simple word to his soldiers, despite most of them being able to hear him telepathically, "Begin." The ten soldiers whizzed through the sky like missiles

Five of them zoomed towards Solaris (@solarius) and began a fast paced assault of their super sharp diamond like swords aiming especially towards the eyes and throat. If those attacks failed hey would switch to defensive, attempting to bend her high energy and heat attacks around towards her, or even better, the shield which protected The Free States attackers.

The other five took to the rear of Lichters attacks. Two of them spun around the other three ready to protect them from any attack. The remaining three joined together to begin a barrage of three full level lightning bolts on Vai's energy shield in an attempt to disable it.

Then it was the golden Knights turn to pitch in. He zoomed towards the shield wielding Nex and attempting to slam it against the shield with the might of a full speed train using telekinesis to enhance it so far, and then moving until he was practically horizontal to inflict more force against it.

@solarius: @vai: @lichter:

There would be no easy win for either side in this battle, there rarely was. But Garian intended to add to the difficulty of defeating Samuel Washington.

Covered in golden armor, mostly for show and not revealing his true identity, Garian rode in as swift as a bullet standing on a golden carpet. But he was not alone, warriors followed flying and with swords in their hands. Telekinetic and telepathic soldiers trained to outrace sniper bullets and with swordsman ship to kill even some of the greatest of this time. They wore gold as well, underneath protected by diamond linked armor just in case. Each of these men were fast, strong, skilled, smart, and deadly. Not to mention their telekinesis and that each was also chosen because they could generate and manipulate lightning. They were also all well learned in the art of pyrokinesis and thermal manipulation. Their biggest flaw was cold, as fire could only be used to their advantage.

The Golden Knight rose higher into the sky drawing a black bladed sword from his sheath and raising it above his head, through the face mask part of his helmet he said a simple word to his soldiers, despite most of them being able to hear him telepathically, "Begin." The ten soldiers whizzed through the sky like missiles

Five of them zoomed towards Solaris (@solarius) and began a fast paced assault of their super sharp diamond like swords aiming especially towards the eyes and throat. If those attacks failed hey would switch to defensive, attempting to bend her high energy and heat attacks around towards her, or even better, the shield which protected The Free States attackers.

The other five took to the rear of Lichters attacks. Two of them spun around the other three ready to protect them from any attack. The remaining three joined together to begin a barrage of three full level lightning bolts on Vai's energy shield in an attempt to disable it.

Then it was the golden Knights turn to pitch in. He zoomed towards the shield wielding Nex and attempting to slam it against the shield with the might of a full speed train using telekinesis to enhance it so far, and then moving until he was practically horizontal to inflict more force against it.

@lord_garian: @solarius: @vai: @lichter:

Having moved to Venezeula Alex wasn't necessarily a citizen of the states who could cast a vote. She came out thankful for it to given the overwhelming abundance of what she perceived as underwhelming ideals. Rook was a good man but one who's track record she thought promised the opposite of progress. She'd grown up in Gothic, and to her Gothic was still a pit of despair. Then came the Savage, a charismatic sort but what she heard from him was that anyone he disagreed with was an idiot. It was a childish almost anti political approach to her, as for the final two runners they were the worst of the bunch. The new president was so focused on security and secrecy she thought that it risked burning ideas of liberty. The worst canidate was now a terrorist who deserved what was coming Alex thought, but would this act be worth it under order of someone terrorizing the nation from within.

She sat there fingers running along an iPad looking to get a feel for the blueprints as much as possible. Intel on the floating cities wasn't particularly rich but knowing the suroundings was never a bad thing. She wasn't spewing solar energy from the finger tips or in posession of a ring that crafted anything, she just had tech archery and wits for the most part. As the two higher tier of the team took to the skies Alex got to her feet a portal opened in front of her free hand it's other side clearly trying to get a idea of where to teleport to within the Unity.

"Alex, from Maverick" she remarked introducing herself bluntly. It could have been more formal but from the sounds of it the other ladies were seeing some action and Alex saw an opportunity. "It's your show, that said I can maybe get us in. Vai could try and maintain this boats cover giving us a small window of a distraction. I'm all for bringing hell but with the amount of civilians I'd rather keep hell small." She wasn't here to play the tactician but she wasn't fond of sitting in a jet under attack either.

@apex_: @lord_garian: @vai: @solarius: @lichter:

"Ladies and gentlemen, they've come to kill us all."

Sam sat in the command center of the Unity, surrounded by 360 degrees of video feeds from the hundreds of soldiers soon to be in combat. They all looked towards the oncoming force of "heroes."

They'll be expecting a dramatic proclamation. Maybe a nuke will satisfy them?

Sam switched on a video feed to the surface of the carrier, and addressed the Equalizers. "I understand you think you can stop me. I'd advise against it. Your presence here has prompted me to use what I like to calla deterrent, but is colloquially referred to as a tactical nuclear strike. I hope no one had any relatives in... Portland." He switched the feed off and began directing troop movements.

Albert Washington.

Al stood at the forefront of the Legion, flanked b two hulking Steel Sentinels and fifty armored Legionnaires. Behind them were two hundred soldiers in standard uniform. He leapt forward, boot thrusters firing as he sped towards the plane where the enemy laid. The brunt of their force was already out of the plane, but he fired several grenades inside anyways. The rest had moved with him, the Sentinels making for the Living Star, massive chainsaws mounted on the wrist. The Legion had targeted the Green Protector, having read reports on her from the prison raid. She would find herself on the business end of several plasma blasts and missiles.

Anti-Aircraft guns also emerged from the ground, though few were hit by the Living Star's attack, and aimed themselves at the plane, trying to finish Al's job.

Meanwhile...

"Washington needs our help again... Send @general_kanos"

@redwhiteblue:

Judgement.

A golden streak surrounded by superheated air rocketed through the skies, eyes trained on the deadly device as the New God's body screamed. He'd been in space just moments ago, inside the sun when one of his New God's telepathically called to his attention a nuke heading towards portland. They were all busy fighting other battles; a giant monster in tokyo, or a gang of metahumans terrorizing kentucky, he was the only New God available. His body screamed as he pushed himself faster than he'd ever gone before, tearing himself on an atomic level as he reached it, skin cracking from the sheer pressure he'd placed on himself. The nuke collided with him, still a large distance above ground, creating a massive shockwave that could've been seen from space. Another hero raced below, a scarlet blur which ran in circles, funneling parts of the explosion that made it's way down upwards with a tornado.

The dust cleared but the New Age Helios was already gone, eyes glowing red in hatred as he rocketed to the conflict near the helicarriers. A streak would sail past the heroes, hopefully liquefying some of the adversaries they fought from the sheer speed before he came to a screeching halt in the air. His skin smoked, and eyes streamed with red energy as his gamma vision engulfed their enemies with a sweeping turn of his head. He'd just attempted to melt them at temperatures matching that of the sun's core, scorching the very air in the process. Samuel Washington threatened millions of lives, and in the process, gained the attention of the Gods themselves.

"Are you mad?!" Orion's fists clenched, barely able to contain his outrage. With his herculean might the New God would've been capable of ripping the helicarriers in halve, or flinging them in the sun. But as far as Orion knew, there were passengers, so the situation called for him to hold back...for the sake of them at-least.

@redwhiteblue: @apex_: @lord_garian: @lichter: @orion_savage

Solaris was caught off guard with the sudden and savage pair of assaults on her person with diamond blades and chainsaws. She hadn't expected a melee in the air and had kept her bo-staff on her back for the time being. When she came under attack she was traveling too fast to do anything about it, most of the hits from both groups of attackers found their target...but also found the Living Star wasn't as soft and squishy as she looked.

Chain blades splintered apart against her skin and diamond hard swords reverberated as they impacted her body, bouncing off as if they'd struck a much more durable substance. What they did accomplish was to throw her flight dramatically off course. Instead of flying pretty she slammed into the deck of the carrier and bounced before slamming into it again fifty yards farther along the deck. This time she rolled, leaving a trail of superheated metal in her wake, a long line of melted deck plating from her intense heat and even her brief contact.

Her travel finally came to a stop as he made his announcement and she pushed herself to her feet, furious not at the attacks on her person but at the nuclear attack that had been launched. Fortunately Orion Savage did something about it and soon landed not far from her position. Enraged she channeled her attacks into a different direction than before. Her feet lifted off the deck as she levitated into the air and channeled her powers

Unlike in previous times she did not make a snap decision in her anger, instead she made very careful choices for her targets. Her first attack launched a person sized beam of nuclear fusion one hundred times hotter than the sun traveled the distance between herself and the group of chainsaw wielders launched by Sam Washington to attack her. The beam traveled at the speed of light and made a loud KRAKOOOM! the moment it left her hand as the air was instantly incinerated, reduced to a void that was filled in nearly the same instant it was created by the light speed travel of the beam. Even the beam's passing ionized and fused the deck plating along its path.

When the beam arrived at its target it exploded among the group of armored men in a furious ball of light intending to both blind the suit's sensory systems and potentially overheat their systems entirely. In addition to the blast, there was an immediate EMP pulse limited to their area. Solaris's goal was to overheat the suits into uselessness and potentially fry their circuits. Had she wanted to kill the occupants she would have chosen a different attack path.

Her second attack was aimed for the carrier itself. Blueprints had been provided and though she hadn't studied them on the plane, she had studied them. The Living Star had a precise aim, focusing her attack out of her eyes. Twin beams of super heated plasma shot from her eyes with the same speed as the person sized beams but were infinitely hotter, more than a thousand times the Earth's Sun. The beams made a much less intimidating sound the instant they left her eyes being that they ionized much less air in their passing. The beams were aimed carefully to travel entirely through unoccupied areas of the ship and burn their way to the carrier's supply of nuclear weapons. Once they arrived she turned carefully in place, aiming to move the beams as they constantly projected from her eyes and completely wreck the room and its contents, well aware that simple heat wouldn't set off nuclear weapons, no matter what the movies said.

@solarius: @redwhiteblue: @apex_: @lord_garian: @orion_savage

The ship shook about, but was protected by the powerful energy field generated by the emerald-clad young woman within the plane. Klaus squinted, watching the array of lights and explosions through the green-tinted bubble that surrounded them. He re-holstered his Death Ray, clutching at the support handles above his head with his now-empty hand. Solaris had engaged the enemy, her amazing power already making short work of any defenders that stood in her path. Klaus nodded, watching her go after the missiles. He raised a hand up to his ear, activating the comm that linked him directly to the Living Star's specialized earpiece.

"Excellent work, Miss. Keep it up."

Removing the finger from the side of his mask for a moment, he took some time to admire her handiwork. Much of the upper deck had been scorched by solar fire, smoke now rising from the various craters that had been left behind. He was appreciative of her efforts involving the nuclear weapons; even if one managed to get past one of his metahumans, they had targeted EMP weapons on the ground in every major city. Nukes weren't good if they were suddenly disarmed mid-flight. The jet shook more in mid-air as resistance from the carrier rocked the outer shield.

Wait, no...that's someone's wake, he realized, looking upwards to see none other than Orion Savage himself hovering nearby. He quickly returned his finger to his earpiece within the cowl, eyes locked on the New Age Helios.

"We have an n-God in the field. Repeat, n-God."

He paused.

"Classified as friendly, for now. Under no circumstances are you to engage."

He looked down, checking one of his wrists for the time.

"Second strike will commence shortly. Bigshot's inbound."

Bigshot. A fitting codename for our armored friend, he thought, looking at the radar within the jet. Absentmindedly, he felt his shoulder, touching the ripcord for his compressed parachute. Any operatives without the natural ability to fly had been offered use of the government-built microchute. It was practically form-fitting, so light that it was almost unnoticeable...but in a pinch, he knew it would save him from a nasty fall, should the situation call for it. He looked to his left, hoping the young woman could keep the shield up.

"The operation is progressing without issue. If you need assistance, I have your location. If we can discern the location of Samuel Washington, I'll engage him personally. It's paramount that he does not escape this time."

@apex_: @redwhiteblue: @orion_savage: @solarius: @lichter:

The Dragon Warriors were fast, no doubt of that. But they weren't capable of lightspeed or near it, for most anyway. Some could react to it, but few could stop the beams she sent towards the ship, and those few weren't present except for Garian.

What they could do, however, may have been enough. Combining the telekinetic abilities of all five near Solaris (@solarius) they attempted to calm the attacks damage especially on the missiles. They then reverted to a more defensive positioning, they each resheathed their swords and flew in front of Washingtons carrier. Plasma burst forth from their hands in a shield like formation in front of the carrier to defend easily against most attacks and to somewhat limit the view of the carrier as well.

Garian could tell his attack wasn't enough, time for a change of tactics. But he knew he couldn't used moves Garian had used. The Golden knight had to be different. So he would be different. In a mere moment he considered the other possibility, telekinesis within the shield. That would make them rethink their defenses. He exchanged Nex to his left, his right remained by his side. He stared intently at the carrier inside, attempting to bend one of the engines and destabilize the ship. Hopefully the sudden stop of an engine would momentarily pause Vais (@vai @lichter )shield allowing him and his warriors access inside.

@solarius: @redwhiteblue: @apex_: @lord_garian: @orion_savage

A sudden massive lurch forward accompanied Garian's attack, an attempt to bend the engine to his will and crash the ship. However, in order to do so, Garian's might would have to directly contend with Klaus own intellect, the Octarine Oscillator he wore already set to maximum in order to prevent any sort of aggressive attack on his person. While the device's effects would traditionally only shield him, the waves of extranormal-cancelling energies it emitted had been amplified by several orders of magnitude with the mere flick of a switch.

He felt the sudden shift in reverberations as the Oscillator bore the brunt of the psionic attack, barely preventing the engines from crushing themselves under an invisible grip. He lifted his finger to his ear with his free hand, contacting the remainder of his forces...including those yet to make themselves known.

"There's a psionic in the field. He's easily spotted...make time to take him down."

The humming pin under his vest complained of excess energies, vibrating incessantly as it worked to cancel out the telekinetic barrage. It had yet to fail him, but he'd rather not take his chances.

Vai's field physically cracked under the immense assault but she grit her teeth and focused her will into the power ring. The shield was damaged but it held, even as grenades and people tried to enter through the open rear of the plane. Fortunately the shield could keep people out as well as objects. When the plane rocked Vai nearly lost her concentration as she was tossed to one side of the planet and crashed her shoulder into the wall. She gasped but held her focus, years of training with the ring prevented her from being distracted by such drama.

"Guys...we need to use that portal like yesterday. I can't hold off their assault forever, another round like this and the shield's gonna break. So...portal or new orders, either one I need options quickly. Vai ignored the pain in her shoulder, aware that it had been bruised but fairly certain it would remain useful in this battle. To prevent further falling she took a seat and looked to her leader with glowing green eyes that showed the strain she was under, despite her carefree attitude about it.

-Don't worry kid, cavalries arrived-

Directly Anthony projected a message to @lichter as he flew into view, flying with a truly flamboyant finesse at hyper-sonic speeds around the helicarrier, visually examining all of it's structural weak-points and integral vulnerabilities.

--Horizon, target the helicarrier propulsion systems, we'll take this baby out of the sky for good--

>Engaging now, sir<

Without delay, the Mechanical Titan's shoulder mounted pocket opened as a large assortment of munitions fired towards the Free States carrier at hyper-sonic speeds, most of the missiles would carry enough punch to cripple even the earths mightiest armored tank in a single blow and others strongest enough to burn through almost any substance due to their ridiculous properties.

Thermally super-charged missiles able to fly through the air -- Whilst their atomic structure frantically vibrated and caused a rapid heating of the metal.

The thermal potency of the missile's boosted by the trion coating them, amplifying the energy absorption capabilities. During flight, they would store the kinetic energy, amplify it, covert the energy into heat, and render them thermally supercharged and extremely deadly.

Stark hoped punching copious holes through the carries flight systems plus bombarding with explosives would catastrophically damage the effectiveness; and this was just the commencement of his assistance.

@anthony_stark: @solarius: @redwhiteblue: @apex_: @lord_garian: @orion_savage

"Understood, Green," he replied, using her basic codename that had been selected before the mission began. He stood back up, closing the back hatch once again as the outer shields were rocked by barrages of anti-air fire and almost invisible streaks of esoteric warriors dodging through the sky. The shield around them seemed visibly strained just as his Equalizer did, the energy emitted by her jewelry faltering ever so slightly. He cleared his throat, mimicking Bonaparte silently. His comm line was disconnected momentarily, his regular words inaudible to even those alongside him in the jet.

"Door," he said clearly, enunciating the simple English word with the diction of a practiced scholar. He didn't intend for there to be any slip-ups.

Immediately, a yellow glowing passageway sent directly from Damien Bonaparte's mysterious vessel erupted before the jet, calculated to appear directly in their flight path for only a fraction of a moment. Immediately barrel-rolling through the portal, the jet vanished from the Unity's airspace, reappearing within the massive subspace-faring ship and hovering in an unpopulated zone for them to catch their bearings.

"Green, if you're compromised, now's your chance to stay behind," he said, looking down at his wrist and tapping out a command sequence that would take them back into the action, except far above their original position. He'd wait for a response, then take the ship back into action.

Far above the Unity

The stealth jet would rip back into existence through another amber doorway, except this time, it would be cloaked. Regardless of how advanced their technology was, Klaus had no doubt they would soon be discovered...but in a moment, the Unity would have bigger problems to deal with.

"Don't worry kid, cavalry's arrived!"

He heard Stark over his earpiece, a grin filling his face as he watched the Itano Circus erupt beneath them. The shots were fired with calculated precision, aimed to devastate the helicarrier's engines and weaponry whilst leaving the civilian population shaken, but safe. He keyed himself in to Stark's frequency.

"Copy that, Bigshot. Mind the psionic, though, he's still out there. The nGod, on the other hand, seems to be with us on this one."

He glanced at his wrist, looking at the time once again. Signing into Solaris' comm channel, he continued to speak.

"What's your status? Are you in need of assistance?"

@lichter: @solarius: @apex: @orion_savage: @redwhiteblue:

@anthony_stark: Fortunately for the Unity. The five warriors tasked with guarding it were also faster than sound, and with telekinesis. They couldn't take all the missiles out, not without to much risk anyway. But some of them picked them off one at a time, as many as they could that is. They had to leave their giant plasma wall to do it though. They may not have been able to take out Solaris, but this man might be an easier target. Two of them flew towards him swinging their diamond like swords prepared to send various calculated strikes at the more vulnerable parts of his armor, including the eyes.

The Golden Knight didn't appear stunned at the vanishing of the jet, 'Teleportive or cloaking, possibly both. Keep an eye out for its return and other enemies. Target changed to current attackers.' He thought, which were also read by his warriors. Other strategics were made as him and the other five flew quickly around the Unity prepared to fend off further attacks. Garian continued to attempt to predict probable ones as well as where the jet would return, below or above most likely.

(It would have been better, but my device went screwy on me.)

@lichter: @anthony_stark: @solarius: @redwhiteblue: @lord_garian: @orion_savage:

Alex had taken lives before, she was a soldier and so the act wasn't new. However she carried a heavy weight on her soul from what she'd done about a month back. As Columbia befell a violent revolt of course Alex was there to take action, and thankfully through her work and many others that conflict was short as opposed to a prolonged war. However to make it so she'd bombed two submarines and their full staff. Hundreds of lives gone from her, and though it was worth it a burden was still there. Some of the people she knew were even just doing trivial things all died though. Cause in a war she couldn't take time to divide the soldiers and pilots from the engineers and medical staff. Today's conflict was smaller though and some great people were on her side with a power more diverse. She'd trust Maverick personnel more then anyone here, but usually her side didn't have construct rings some of the top technical savats or living stars. What she saw though wasn't particularly cautious however.

Weapons designed to decomision the carrier with impresive firepower. Aimed for flight systems, it might stall the craft with some damage but massive amounts could mean dropping it from the sky. Fact was gravity could be cruel and flight systems were fragile more often then not. And then came the star's attacks, lances of energy that Apex's tech couldn't even properly calculate. It'd take some impressive armor power or tech to endure such heat. Three million miles away from the sun and you'd begin to feel the heat in space. Multiply that heat a thousand fold and you might very well be incinerated from that distance. A laser there for at such a heat was potent when brief and deathly volatile if held for a long enough time. For now it was still a safe game but it raised some concern. Enough concern for Alex to act a bit more independently.

As the jet re-entered the atmosphere above the Unity Alex opened a portal leaping into one of the corridors of the carrier. The portal stayed open so anyone on the air ship could tag along should they so chose. That said she wasn't going to sit in the bird any longer cloaked or not. "Don't get me wrong you all seem like nice people even the dick bag ex-president. But I'd rather this floating city not fall from the sky so could you manage the god damn collateral?" She spoke over the com temper in check but showing none the less. Looking to a sign that provided a map of the structure the marksman took a moment to conjure a series of portals before as many of the doors to rooms and offices as possible. Without knowing the layout fully and the need to be on her guard she'd have to repeat the steps likely several times on several floors but it was worth it. For the portal before the doors would lead to the upper deck of the other carriers. Allowing non combatants to escape the ship under siege.

Of course not everyone was outside fighting the super heroes and other outfitted types in their grandiose battle. Nor would everyone leave their home just cause of the dire hour. With bow in hand and an arrow ready the marksman specialist made herself ready for whomever came her way.

@apex_: @lichter: @anthony_stark: @solarius: @redwhiteblue: @lord_garian: @orion_savage:

"We there yet?" Jackal mused, peeping over the seat, as Moya piloted yet another craft into the fight against the presidential candidate turned terrorist madman known as Samuel Washington. The mission being in actuality, a fairly simple one they were sent on by the U.S, one that it seemed only they had been concerned about, evacuation. From what the scene had fortold, there was more than enough power going around. Jackal scratched his ear, the cloaked craft vibrating as Orion Savage roars by at hypersonic speeds, looking as though he wishes to take the carrier to the ground immediately. A tempting proposition to simply blast the thing into two neatly cut pieces. Alas, the civillians prevented this and seemingly everyone else from doing this.

This demanded that they attack in a different way, with specific objectives in mind. What prevented most of Maverick's own craft from entering being the rather formiddable line on anti-air. Moya looked at the map streamed towards her. "We should be nearing the carrier. Are you ready?"

Jackal's face lit up with an arrogant glee, his grin bearing a predator's teeth. "Ho-ho yeah. Cut me loose, Mama bird."

Jackal

Moya withheld, appearing now and weaving past anti-air cannon fire, thermal flares countermeasures throwing off targetting systems of the craft as they veered off in all directions. Given Stark's attack, she saw perfect oppertunity to Jetison Jackal into the fray, the man-turned-machine falling through the sky without the slightest in fear watching as missiles, lasers, gods, jets and magic men in armor firing on missiles. All the while, Jackal fell from the sky amidst the chaos, plasmonic energy blasts glancing off his armor, two superconducting knives, drawn from their sheathes, served to deflect most oncoming directed energy weapon fire. A giant plasma cannon's blast flew towards him, and soon after, the knife entered it, colliding head on and exploding, scattering the blast in all directions as Jackal appeared falling continuously through the flames.

"Heh heh heh..." He smirked, righting himself as the ground grew closer and closer. He righted himself, and awaited sweet, sweet impact.

The ground ruptured, the immediately area pulverized upon impact by Jackal's ultra-durable cybernetic frame. Outside of his crater, omni-directional blast waves accompanying his arrival, echoing about, threaten to send any soldier and vehicle in the immediately vicinity in all directions. Dead center in the crater, the extra-normal executioner stood.

*Crack*He rolls his neck, wondering exactly what ground forces the man had in store for only a moment before he became a blur, dodging men's plasma fire by virtue of his sheer speed as he sprinted past them, leaving footprints in concrete wherever he ran. Dashing towards the anti air emplacement as he drew his blade, dashing to and fro, wishing to rend them apart, seeking to cleave through gun barrels at accelerations a man could scarcely process.

Yet still, he held back, not bothering yet to actually attempt to kill men unless given reason to or to be actually threatened by any of them.

Me fighting a buncha human soldiers and wreaking havoc among all their guns and gear. Heh. Irony....

Moya

She aimed upward, spotting one of Apex's portals.

As she flew inside, the F-72 Phantom Fighter Jet turned onto auto-pilot as she stood by, by

"Reinforcements en route. Jackal's outside, trying to sweep through anti-air defenses before they come, and standing by to rescue any trapped by debris or collapsing buildings. However, we need as many people off this carrier as we can. But, careful not to pass out! I'd prefer to not carry you out, if possible, Ms. Ashworth." She smiled, her own custom G56 with alternate ammunition loaded and ready, should anyone attempt to attack her or her comrade. Moya's eyes looked cautiously about, the Phantom Fighter looming overhead cloaked, ready to unleash it's payload on any attacker.