thelegion | Breaking News Update [video] ["Lights Out" plot post]

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Breaking News Update [video] ["Lights Out" plot post]

[Apparently Shellee and Tammee - er, Gertix and Yil - have hit the ground running, because it's the day after they quit at Neutrino News and already they're set up in their new digs at Earthlive News, where they were hired by actual reporter Hannah Wells.]

[The two look different without their glam filters. Oh, sure they have a little makeup on, but their eyes are less enlarged and the flaws on their appearance are more visible. They also don't have a pink and blue glow anymore. And the fake smiles are gone. They have the serious and collected expressions of actual newscasters.]

[The words "Breaking News Update" scroll across the bottom of the screen. The video is a little static-ey, like there's interference, but apparently Earthlive News has invested in some heavy duty emergency signal-boosting tech.]

Gertrix: This is Gertrix Shur -

Yil: - and Yil Bak -

Gertrix: With a breaking news update from Earthlive News.

Yil: According to satellite imagery and eyewitness accounts from all over the UP, strange constructs are warping into orbit around multiple UP planets.

[Grainy video from a satellite shows strange structures floating around Braal, made of some unknown material. They're spiky and have eyes in the middle. The eyes are all directed towards the planet.]

Yil: So far, reports indicate that these constructs have been spotted around Earth, Colu, Braal, Rimbor, Titan, and Imsk, with more appearing as we speak. We'll continue listing new planets as this report goes on.

[New planets continue to be listed at the botton of the broadcast, scrolling across the screen: Daxam, Zuun, Talok IV...]

Gertrix: The nature and origin of the constructs are still unknown, but according to UPgov, they're thought to be related to the threat of Chronoblivion, as they appear to be emanating from the area of space where Chronoblivion has breached our universe. Efforts to communicate with the constructs seems to be unsuccessful, according to UPgov experts.

Yil: Unfortunately, intel about the constructs is thin due to widespread interference in long-range sensors and long-range communications between the Titanet Towers. Top UPgov scientists believe the constructs to potentially be responsible for the disruption. While communication between worlds is still possible, it's very limited.

Gertrix: [Listens to her earpiece.] This just in, UPgov has put into place a full state of emergency for all UP worlds. Authorities are advising all UP citizens to shelter in place, gather up emergency supplies within their homes, and to limit Titanet communications as much as possible so governments and law enforcement can have their vital communiques prioritized on Titanet networks.

[Click here for emergency information and links to official UPgov instructions.]

Yil: While communications are limited, the Science Police, Galactic Emergency Guard, and Legion of Superheroes are reported to now be in communication and will be dispatching to respond to the situation shortly. Authorities are advising UP citizens to remain calm and stay off the T-gate network and public thoroughfares, to avoid mass panic and allow law enforcement freedom of movement.

Gertrix: Here at Earthlive news we will continue broadcasting live to ensure the UP public is informed about ongoing news updates, as well as providing resources on emergency information, and information that will allow UP citizens to safely shelter in place.

[The news report goes on but by now UPgov and the Science Police have finally broken through the interference and managed to communicate with Legion World. Klaxons start blaring on Legion World and they don't have any more time to watch the broadcast.]

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How's the arm holding up?

[ He'd had just enough time to get a new suit together, thank god. Rigged with the best non-lethal options he could throw together under pressure, still getting the gist of, well, everything- he focuses more on Friday and the Suit than he does trying to make his powers work outside of focused moments of 'oh fuck no', peeling these tentacled things off the outer hull. ]

So. Bees?

[ Because he has no idea what else to throw at these things and when in doubt- why the hell not? ]

You call that going easy?! [Because fuck you, Locus! Do you know how many times he limped back from training with bruises and muscles hurting like hell? Sure, the speed-healing made them fade before he made it back to his bed, but it still hurt.

But facing what they were now, maybe that shit wasn’t so bad. He wanted to say that he didn't sign up for this, but he did. Fuck, he really did.

Tucker waited for that arch to finish (getting cut in half would have been embarrassing as hell) before he slid forward, moving around Locus to go ahead. Waiting for him? Nope. No thanks. He wanted to clear this way as soon as he could so they could figure out how to fix this shit. You know, if it could be fixed. Besides, moving ahead, however slight it was, felt like winning.

Don't worry, though, he had learned some things, and one of them was not to get too far ahead of the rest of his team.

He slid to the side, trying to avoid a few shots being popped off. Fuck this, fuck them, fuck everything as he tried to rush forward, close the distance, and stab forward. Some things were tried and true; stabbing was one of them. Tucker didn't feel great about the death sounds, but...he'd focus on that later.]

[ It was not going to be an enjoyable fight, that much was clear. But if they were going to help defend those unable to fight back, this was necessary. If they were going to repel whatever monstrosity was attacking, they had to keep the halls clear for the others.

This was their part to play. And he did not intend to go down easily.

When Tucker pushes ahead, Locus takes the opportunity to engage anyone trying to slip past him or around, guarding his back and ignoring the smell of searing flesh as the blades did their work. Some distance ahead, he can see the cultists lining up to take aim, intending to clear them at a distance. ]

Tucker, down!

[ It's enough to keep the bulk of the onslaught manageable. Locked into the heat of the fight, he doesn't let himself recognize pain, or weariness, or anything but fixating on the goal at hand.

Stop them. Whatever it took. However many of them there were, however long the fight.

Seeing one cultist start to aim upwards at Wash, Locus responds swiftly, and with a whirling movement that circles around in a wide swath, he slices through the barrel of the weapon.

Then shoulder-checks him to the ground, for good measure. ]

Habit.

[ She sees someone about to get swatted, she channels a shield. But maybe Aku's unique properties could come in handy here. She frowns, dark eyes flickering from one monster to the other. ]

Having any luck?

Couldn't hurt.

[ She's got only the one jar on her belt, but she pries it free nonetheless, and takes to the air to speed towards one of the burrowing tentacles before tossing it. The jar smashes against it and...

The bees dissolve almost immediately. Cursing quietly, she darts back. ]

Alright, that's not going to work! Anything living, it seems to just...turn to dust.

[The reality-defying tentacles are non-stop and there's one rushing toward them now as it reaches for the planet's core. With few options left, Aku stares into it with his laser eyebeams. Shockingly, it seems to have an effect. The tentacle splits down its center and the two sides curl away, melting into themselves.]

Yes.

[He grins, but the feeling of victory is short lived. The monster hardly seems fazed and there are still plenty more tentacles to take on. Unfortunately, Aku is already at his limit and when he tries to fire another shot, his laser beam fades like a hose that's been shut off.]

But now I am out of lasers.

Try this.

[ He palms a disk from the hip of his suit, tossing it to her. ]

Same concept, swarm drones.

...what, the bees idea seemed to have merit.

[There was a time when he would have told Locus to fuck off, that if he wanted him to go down, he'd have to wait a lifetime or twelve bowchikabowwow, but those days were done. Training together had done wonders for the shaky trust that Tucker didn't even realize was there, and he listened without argument. He ducked down without thinking, some automatic movement, pressing himself against the wall.

Later, he might reflect on what it meant, but for now? Now he just wanted to fight.

Tucker clenched his jaw, eyes flickering to the ceiling. Metal? Metal. Cool. After all, he didn't use his powers nearly as much as he should have (pulling unopened beer cans to his hands from across the room didn't count. Or, at least, they counted a little.). It took more power than he thought it would; the panels were bolted in fucking tight (no surprise).

He just...needed a few seconds and maybe he could take out a few and get them a distraction.]

[ At least this is familiar. Suited up, ammo clips on his belt, gun at the ready. He patches through his external radio now and then to call out a 'hold up' or a 'stand still', 'freeze' and on occasion a 'hold this for me?' for whoever's close enough to get handed off a flashbang or whatever he's charged in the moment. It's not much to thin the heard but facing off a swarm is...

distressingly familiar.

But he's got this. They've got this. Rattling like a ball in a shell game he rolls to the next available bit of cover, patching to Locus. ]

Reloading, watch your three, got a flashbang off there due in point five.

Copy.

[ That means move to cover, or at least as much cover as will shield him from the burst. He kneels into an alcove, waits until he hears the explosion and the startled cries of the cultists, before sweeping in behind and cutting an arc across the backs of two.

A third appears to be aiming at his back, and he jerks to one side to avoid the shot. ]

[ He could see him pulling from where he stood, the effort clear. He just needed time.

That, Locus could provide. One hand extended, grabbed a cultist by the throat, and hurled him bodily into his fellows. That ought to grab their focus for a time. Then, he started to withdraw, far enough that he wouldn't be caught by the panel once Tucker had ripped it loose.

Not far enough to avoid a shot that grazed his side. There was a grunt, but no flinch, no faltering, just continuing to hold back and move for cover. ]

Now!

Locus!

[He heard the grunt, heard it, and it was enough to distract him for a second, to make him start over. Locus was still moving though; he clearly wasn't dead, but the whole thing-- the whole thing ~~scared~~ pissed Tucker off. Gritting his teeth, he yelled (Godfuckingdammit!, such a hero thing to scream surely), before he pulled his arm down.

The panel, sizable and heavy, was pulled down with it, crushing quite a few cultists with it. That will teach them.

Tucker didn't wait to inspect what the fuck just happened, instead falling back to Locus.] You okay?

[Nope. Tucker didn't care. Didn't care at all. Probably deserved it on some level, uh huh, he wasn't worried. Psh. Nope.]

[ the constant and deliberate calling of him by his old name is really starting to wear on drift, but this isn't the time or place to argue about it. later. if they all survive this, drift will set megatron straight on that matter later.

he feels the heat of the blast, definitely too close to comfort, and jumps back as megatron fires to get clear, landing with a neat backflip next to the decepticon. drift straightens up just in time to cleave his spark-powered sword through a tentacle swiping overhead. his optics are bright, alive with energy. ]

I wouldn't count me out just yet. [ he looks at the Big Fucking Gun. ] Where did you get that?

[ He's never liked guns, but the good thing about gunshots is that they distract from so many other sounds.

For instance, the sounds of the ones in the back dropping to the ground. ]

I made an acquaintance.

[Once Drift slices through the apparoaching tentacle, Megatron fluidly steps around so that they are standing back to back. A well-practiced postion to cover each other’s blind spots, though Drift had been firing guns the last time they used it.]

She was impressive, for a human.

[Some gunfire rains down on them from one of the small ships intermingling with the tentacles, and he positions himself to soak up most of the volley. The cannon powers up as Megatron takes aim, firing the beam towards the ship in question to turn it into a rather flashy explosion.]

[ Blink.

A beat.

And then: ]

Aw, hell yes.

[Hell yes, indeed. It isn't long before more Apokoliptian ships are heading their way toward the planet. Aku angles himself toward the nearest ship, though this seems to be the extent of his self-propelled movement in this form.]

Well? What are you waiting for? Let's DESTROY these fools!

[ it's easy. it shouldn't be this easy, it's been thousands of years since they last fought together like this, but megatron steps back against him and something just clicks into place. there's a human saying about it that drift can't recall right now, but it feels, suddenly, like no time has passed at all, and it's a jarring feeling, one that takes him out of this place and to another for just a nanosecond, nothing but a flash, but megatron moves and drift moves with him on instinct. they always worked so well together in combat.

drift hates it, and that feeling is buried under the immediate need to move and act, but he hates it just a little bit, and more for the fact that he knows that for now, it's necessary. right now, it's to their benefit. ]

How did you convince a human to build you a weapon? [ he manages to sound surprised, skeptical, and, admittedly, a little in awe even while he swings at the incoming tentacles. he used to have guns, but his speed makes up for the melee range -- and the wide reach on the sword doesn't hurt. ] And who was she?

[ any human willing to build a gun that big for megatron is probably either extremely misguided or someone to watch out for. possibly both. ]

Ah, she noticed the weapon mounts on my arm were looking a tad lonely and took the initiative herself. One of the more practical members of this organic station, I’d say.

[The warm heat from the cannon grows the more it fires, and eventually Megatron lowers that arm to let it expel the strain of the systems and recover. The dimensional oscillation allowing those cannon blasts to rip through the tentacles hadn’t quite been perfected and could destabilize with overuse. If Drift looked, he might noticed some spatial weirdness occasionally splitting out of the barrel along with the blast.]

[If there was any reason to worry, though, Megatron didn’t seem to express it. He had a similar issue with the first fusion cannon he’d strapped to his arm. His first iteration of the weapon was newer tech stolen from the Senate - still couldn’t quite get the antimatter core to avoid getting pissy without a little cool down time.]

[He still has a free fist, however, and he uses it to punch through any non-tentacled Catastrophist ships that were unfortunate enough to get within his grasp.]

Incoming - to your left.

Robbie spares a second - a split second, because he has to move to avoid a random screwdriver whipping past (you think the Earth would watch where it left the space junk) - to give Ray the most deliberately blank look ever.

"Out of range of the tentacles that are ginormous and deadly, but close enough to hit with C accuracy and D- minus range." This is his amused face, really. "Sure, that's not the Venn Diagram of antisocial circles. I bet we find you a foxhole that's pre-stocked with everything you need to make a proton bazooka, too. What good is theoretical science if it never blows anything up?! Always build the proton bazooka, Ray!"

[ Originally, no, Robbie hadn't intended to push off, because there's a little too much Gojira tentacles around for comfort, but at the speed he's moving?

Yeah, there's an angle he can just make that would send him careening into Legion World at a pretty nasty velocity. It won't hurt him or the hull, but it will release a explosion of energy bubbles that can be directed at the beast.

So without a second thought, he catches Lucio's hand and shoves into it with a twist, hurtling off again until he splats face first into grey metal. Yay. The rainbow bubbles pelt a tentacle clean off like a shotgun blast at close range.

[ drift looks alarmed at that information -- a human took initiative and decided to build megatron some brand-new, very explosive arm candy? yeah, drift's going to want to watch out for that one. but he doesn't have time to get into it now, even if a glance at the cannon gives him some very bad vibes.

he moves without hesitation, just like he always used to with megatron, and he lets himself just fall back into it instead of fighting it, because it's necessary and it's easier that way, so much easier. his voice rises in a wordless battlecry as he cleaves his sword down through the incoming tentacle, but there's more resistance this time, it takes more energy, crackling sparks flying off the blade. ]

Is it just me or are these things getting bigger?

[Megatron follows the familiar movement of the other Cybertronian, pleased with the ease with which Drift fell back into his role. Millennia of combat instinct could never fully be replaced, not in the heat of it when there was little time to second-guess what your spark knew what to do. For a Cybertronian so preternaturally good at violence, the only answer was to slip back into that fluid routine. Somewhere in Drift was still the Decepticon warrior he had fought with long ago.]

[The cannon powers on again as the Autobot lands from his recent strike. Fresh beams of energy leap from the barrel and detonate over approaching tendrils, but once the debris clears, he pauses.]

[The Decepticon’s optics narrow.]

It’s getting closer.

Edited 2018-01-07 18:07 (UTC)

[ he's right. drift feels a heavy sense of dread just looking at it, because while it can't do anything to hurt him or megatron, to everyone else here, it's a deadly threat. and things aren't getting any better -- the legionnaires are fighting, but they're not winning, falling further and further back. ]

We can't let it get any closer. We might not be able to stop it completely, but we might be able to help buy the others a little more time if we can slow it down. It can't hurt us -- but it can hurt them. [ he shifts, no longer at megatron's back but at his side. he glances at the Big Fucking Gun. ] Has that thing been at full power this whole time?

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Breaking News Update [video] ["Lights Out" plot post]

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