The Protectors -- Issue #2 -- "Crisis 19"

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

"Most boring doom I ever saw. Do we want to analyze the thread before hitting the main tower? You know, so we don't walk in unknowledged like a bunch of B-movie heroes?"

[StickMan]

Path:

"Agreed, might be a good idea to check on the threads first and see why no one is moving down there. I'd rather not have us get in over our heads our first time out that would be embarrassing."

Looking over the land scape he adds.

"We should set down near a village or population center and see how this thing is interacting with people."

[Jalinth]

Journey

"Yes, let's land and see what's happening. Mannequin, could you take us close to that village and then fly top cover for us?"

"After we take a closer look from the air, I'll hit the ground first. If I freeze in place I'll leave it to your best judgment how to proceed."

[samca]

With a few expert pulls at his controls, the plane swoops gracefully toward the ground, as the heroes move to one of the airlocks built into the side. When they're over the village, the airlock whirs open, and the heroes soar out into the sudden blast of air from outside, most under their own power, Red Dawn held in the arms of the alien Xeno Nebulus.

Then the plane angles back up, and resumes its circling pattern over the village, as the heroes come closer to the ground.

Everything is quiet. The grass waves in a light breeze, but that's all. There are no sounds coming from the village.

Several of the silvery threads run from the village, out across the plains, leading in the direction of the main structure where they all converge, still too far away for them to see. As they get closer, they see that 'threads' may not be accurate after all -- that's how they looked in the long-distance satellite photography, but up close they're thick tubes, about a foot across, shiny and reflective like metal, but they look flexible; the tubes dimple in at the bottom where they lie across branches or rocks, or bend over logs. There is a thin, liquid sheen on them. The tubes head into the village, where they split and branch out into smaller tubes running into each of the houses.

From a distance, several people are visible standing on the streets of the village, motionless.

When Journey sets down on the ground, nothing seems to happen. He feels fine, and no sudden paralysis comes over him.

[Jalinth]

Journey

"Well, whatever caused people to freeze, it isn't triggered by contact with the ground. You all know what you are good at, so spread out and get to it. Just, for the love of sanity, if you are going to do anything to the silver tubes at least warn us even if you aren't interested in talking methods."

Journey flew to within 100 feet of a frozen person and reached towards him with his mind. Were their minds still active?

Using the mind-reading portion of my Telepathy. If he doesn't get attacked or somesuch, Journey will then prob the rest of the people in range.

[hero4hire]

After deposting his teammates Mannequin eased the Protector-Jet; The Glaive up to a higher altitude, then he set the vehicle in a circular holding pattern above the area.
"I've got your Six people. Sitrep unchanged from up here. I will keep you updated." he said into his commlink as he continued to watch for anything MORE out of the ordinary.


OOC: Notice and Search both +15. Taking ten for 25.

[Justice_USA]

After deposting his teammates Mannequin eased the Protector-Jet; The Glaive up to a higher altitude, then he set the vehicle in a circular holding pattern above the area.
"I've got your Six people. Sitrep unchanged from up here. I will keep you updated." he said into his commlink as he continued to watch for anything MORE out of the ordinary.


OOC: Notice and Search both +15. Taking ten for 25.

Dawn (who can fly now btw) lands and takes in the scene, looking for threats or anything else intersting (Notice 15, Extended Vision and Hearing).

[StickMan]

Path jumps out of the back of the plane and lets himself free fall till he is only a few feet from hitting the ground then blinks out reappearing next to the other members of the group standing.

"GOD I love doing that, Its been awhile since I got to jump out the back of a plane." After calming himself for a moment he says "I want to try something"

Walking over to one of the frozen people he he reaches his hand out and attempts to teleport them a few feet to the right and see if it has any result.

[samca]

As they begin to see the people up close, it's immediately apparent that more is wrong with them than just the fact that they are standing still. They are breathing, but shallowly. There is a grayish tinge to their skin, and their staring eyes seem discolored, with a metallic sheen oddly reminiscent of the surface of one of those tubes.

Journey approaches the nearest villager, a girl in her early teens, as motionless as the rest. When he reaches out to her mind, he finds that she's asleep. Or, at least, her mind is in a state very much like a deep, dreamless sleep. She doesn't respond at all, or even seem to notice him.

He quickly finds that the same is true of all of the other people nearby. Whatever has paralyzed them, it's essentially knocked them all unconscious as well.

When Path teleports one of the villagers, an older man with graying hair, the man doesn't respond. He adjusts his footing a little, like a man sleepwalking, but otherwise just keeps staring ahead with those oddly reflective, open eyes. For some reason, those eyes seem familiar to William. They remind him of something he saw elsewhere, in his travels, but he can't quite place where...

Red Dawn is coming to much the same discovery as the others. Her longer vision lets her see more of the countryside around them. Cattle stand motionless. Birds are perched in trees, still and silent. And the cars...

The cars look like they're subtlely changing. There's an old Toyota Hilux parked near the village, probably a decade old. And there seem to be almost organic-looking metal growths forming on it -- silvery knobs and bulges at various points on the structure. Now that she's noticed them, she can see that the growths are visibly growing and changing. It's slow, like watching a candle melt in reverse, but it's definitely happening.

And all the other cars and trucks in the village are doing the same thing, although they're not as far along.

---

Piloting the Glaive, Mannequin doesn't find much in the skies over Uganda. In fact, it's a little eerie just how empty the skies are. His instruments are telling him there's no air traffic for hundreds of miles in any direction. Looking out the cockpit, he sees just how completely he has the skies to himself. No birds, alone or in flocks. No little crop dusters or ultralights. Nothing.

[Justice_USA]

As they begin to see the people up close, it's immediately apparent that more is wrong with them than just the fact that they are standing still. They are breathing, but shallowly. There is a grayish tinge to their skin, and their staring eyes seem discolored, with a metallic sheen oddly reminiscent of the surface of one of those tubes.

Journey approaches the nearest villager, a girl in her early teens, as motionless as the rest. When he reaches out to her mind, he finds that she's asleep. Or, at least, her mind is in a state very much like a deep, dreamless sleep. She doesn't respond at all, or even seem to notice him.

He quickly finds that the same is true of all of the other people nearby. Whatever has paralyzed them, it's essentially knocked them all unconscious as well.

When Path teleports one of the villagers, an older man with graying hair, the man doesn't respond. He adjusts his footing a little, like a man sleepwalking, but otherwise just keeps staring ahead with those oddly reflective, open eyes. For some reason, those eyes seem familiar to William. They remind him of something he saw elsewhere, in his travels, but he can't quite place where...

Red Dawn is coming to much the same discovery as the others. Her longer vision lets her see more of the countryside around them. Cattle stand motionless. Birds are perched in trees, still and silent. And the cars...

The cars look like they're subtlely changing. There's an old Toyota Hilux parked near the village, probably a decade old. And there seem to be almost organic-looking metal growths forming on it -- silvery knobs and bulges at various points on the structure. Now that she's noticed them, she can see that the growths are visibly growing and changing. It's slow, like watching a candle melt in reverse, but it's definitely happening.

And all the other cars and trucks in the village are doing the same thing, although they're not as far along.

---

Piloting the Glaive, Mannequin doesn't find much in the skies over Uganda. In fact, it's a little eerie just how empty the skies are. His instruments are telling him there's no air traffic for hundreds of miles in any direction. Looking out the cockpit, he sees just how completely he has the skies to himself. No birds, alone or in flocks. No little crop dusters or ultralights. Nothing.

Hey guys, check this out. Something is growing on the metal. Maybe someone who can do this without touching it might want to see how it responds to attacks? Or communicate with it?

[SilvercatMoonpaw]

"Get me a sample. I want to see if I can analyze it." Doombot turns his head to see the grows on the car. "Preferably in a sealed container."

[Justice_USA]

"Get me a sample. I want to see if I can analyze it." Doombot turns his head to see the grows on the car. "Preferably in a sealed container."

"Can't some of you pry it off without touching it? Because I can't..."

[Jalinth]

Journey

"I just scanned most of the people. I couldn't find anything unusual in their minds. They seem like they are all sleeping. Their bodies on the other hand..." Journey trails off, not sure what he can add. He decides on an obvious warning. "If they start moving, everyone should take off. No telling what they might do."

He starts taking a look around the area, peaking in buildings and seeing if can find anything interesting. He does his best to avoid coming into contact with the silver tubes.

Taking 10 on a search check for a 12 total.

[StickMan]

Path:

"Well we have a few options here. First we can keeping looking at this stuff and have no real clue what it is, second we can go to the main site with out any clue whats going on or..." Path touches the tips of his pinky fingers with his thumbs moving down. Two gun barrels emerge from each of his wrist bracer's. "We can hit these line things with as much damage as we can muster. My guess is that if we do, if this thing is alive or even just some kind of tech, eventually we provoke some kind of response. And honestly I think its best we learn something away from the main location, before we go storming there were I believe we will encounter more heavy set in resistance. Any opinions?"

[samca]

Poking his head into one of the buildings the tubes trail into, Journey finds an unsettling sight -- once again, he sees an odd mix of biology and machine, as the tube splits and splits again, into dozens of small, thin capilaries which fill the entire building. Where they meet the walls, the smaller tubes seem to be secreting a silvery substance, similar to what was growing on the cars, and which is forming structures in the house. Some of the structures look organic, bulbous hemispheres of shiny, glistening metal; others are clearly mechanical, with blinking lights and exposed circuitry as the machinery grows.

The entire inside of the house is being converted, and seems to be filling with the bizarre biomachinery.

Meanwhile, inspecting the similar growths forming on the truck, Doombot's extensive programming and data on this subject kick into gear, and based on the evidence so far, he's able to extrapolate the most likely cause of all this.

His original guess wasn't far off, actually. In a way, this is a viral attack. But it's not a natural one. Doombot is reasonably certain that the best explanation for what they're seeing is a nanotechnological attack. Something exploded over Uganda, and showered the area with a cloud of molecular machinery, and the microscopic machines ae busily remaking the entire area into...

...Well, something else.