@Tempest: After what happened with the Hydra? No, you may not. I'm STILL trying to get it's heads to stop spontaneously falling off every time I create another one. So no, you may not have katanas. This is not 2nd Edition where you can stack Improved Critical so high that even a natural one threatens a critical. Be happy with it. My word is final on this subject.
Also the rest of the guardians are about to arrive.
hmm... I wonder...
Baker stares right at Tempest while thinking:
Yo, Ithran, you get a load of this guy?
The sounds of heavy machinery approach as two more figures enter the room.
My apologies for our friend, comrades. He is a bit odd at times but his heart is in the right place.
Tempest, why aren't you at simulator 23? I thought there was an Amazonian lady that was supposed to start her exam soon-
And in a flash of blue and white, Tempest has exited the room.
In a confidential tone, There is no simulator 23. But it'll drive him crazy looking for it. We'll have a few minutes of quiet before he figures it out.
But where are my manner? I am the Beryl Beacon and this is one of my many comrades-at-arms, Battalion. We were quite surprised to hear that you not only passed this little exam but each of you selfishly sacrificed their life to aid others? Is this true?
Finally having someone not...apparently insane... to talk to,
So it would seem, Mr. Beacon, sir. Are you sure there isn't something faulty with your test? This is the second time i've scored over 100% and they've told me both times that it was a fluke.
It's nice to meet both of you. Yes apparently we all did.
The second figure, impressive and looming in his state-of-the-art battlesuit, answers Fate's question. Hey do I walk into your...donut shop and insult your cinna-buns? Whatever you did to fry my system was accounted for this time.
Battalion looks you over, Although on second thought, maybe I need to make some more adjustments. No way a skinny kid like you gets a 120.
Baker matches his look.
Well if there were something wrong with the cinna-buns, I would expect you to let someone know so they could fix the problem. And the 120 was last time; this time I believe was 150? Either way, what gives? If you'll pardon my brashness.
Yea, Carl said something about that. But we've never had anyone score so high on the "Talent Only" exam. Well there was one exception but they weren't talented so much as... Battalion looks closer at Fate.
It couldn't be...
In horror you watch as Battalion's wrist mounts flare to life as he takes aim at Risen Fate!
A soldier does what he must do in the line of duty. also tell your blue friend that if Agnew every gets attack by some Femtestors, he can be my new Vice President
Baker raises an eyebrow.
Um...mind not pointing those in my direction? They look pretty dangerous...
Timeline walks over to battalion and in front of his blaster
Well its about time the big guy himself, It is true you have a nice system but to be honest its just an ordinary simulator with a little tweaks of the alien variety or at least of the future tech variety if I would have to guess from what I know about simulators. But it is nice to meet you, I am Timeline Master of time and its nice to meet another great mind.
Wild Fire moves in front of Fate (thinking those flares are mostly fire based).
Hey! whatsthebigideathereisnoAmazonian- OOF!
Tempest barrels into the room colliding with Battalion just as he fires ruining his aim and blowing a small chunk into the far wall. There is now a large hole in the room through which several startled simulator test takers are staring at the seven of you.
Battalion waves Wild Fire and Timeline away, Get outta the way! Once is coincidence but twice...
Battalion jumps sideways and aims his Homing Rockets at Risen Fate.
They explode in the close quarters causing most of your ears to ring from the deafening blast.
Just calm down! Maybe it's just your system and he's the fluke, the loop hole. You never know.
I love that I am the one telling him not to be rash.
As the ringing in your ears subsides and the bits of falling plaster start clearing the air, a booming voice sounds from the center of the explosion.
What is going ON here?! A visible trail of destruction leads in a straight line from the outer wall of the Spire and through the hole in this room's wall (which is now much bigger). it would appear this gentleman intercepted the missiles just in the nick of time. You can see the outer wall beginning to patch itself up flowing and merging together like some sort of silver liquid.
A giant of a man steps towards Battalion (who has managed to fall through a weakened section of flooring so that only his torso is visible). He wears ornamented silver armor and looks very confused.
John, I trust you have a very good reason for using that kind of firepower INSIDE the Silver Spire?
Before you stands Maximum Silver himself, in the flesh.
Timeline shakes his head in disgust.
Wow quite the organization you got here Silver
Hey, Silver. Uhh a little help? Seeing the waiting glare thrown his way, Battalion decides to explain.
Look I'm sorry but it was the only way to be sure. We can't just let a kid like that join. What if he was just some glorified hacker? Even if he did mean well he'd be roadkill the instant we sent him on a mission.
He manages to get one hand free and begins to nonchalantly cut himself free of the flooring with a precision laser. Besides, I was right. That kid is a probability manipulator, sure as you are standing here. A powerful one too as you can see. He points to the edges of the hole in the wall and the floor panels that has just "happened" to give way underneath him.
If i may interject you haven't given us much of a reason why we would want to join this organization, with the firing of rockets, the blathering buffoon of a speedster. To be honest I cant find much of a reason to stay other than the fact i would like to talk to Mr.Johnson.
Baker, looking confused and still on total defensive shoots a look at Battalion..
So being lucky is a super-power now? You couldn't have just, I don't know, EXPLAINED THAT or something?!
@ Battalion: Silver shakes his head. That is no reason to fire on an innocent! One of these days you will guess wrong, John, and there will be no going back. Silver's eyes are ablaze...but there is a certain amount of sadness behind them as well.
Looking at Timeline, You are correct. This organization needs improvement if we are ever to become the beacon of hope we all wish it to be. I assure you no more life-threatening actions will be made against your persons while I am here. Although from what I've been told you seem well capable of defending yourselves.
Silver brushes the last of the plaster off his armor and motions to Beryl. Someplace nice for our guests. DaVinci's perhaps?
He turns to the rest of you. I have a proposition for your four if you are willing to hear me out.
Beryl opens a semi-circular portal large enough for four people to enter at once. The other side reveals a fancy restaurant near the center of the town. DaVinci's is normally reservation only.
Battalion glances at the Ice Portal and mutters, I wish I knew how he does that...
Silver strides through the portal before continuing, However, I am sure you are tired and hungry from your earlier ideal and I find my offers are best digested over a fine meal.
@Fate: Yes, probability manipulation is a rare gift, usually with certain...consequences. I myself am only aware of one other entity capable of bending reality in the same way you do.
Baker hesitates, keeping an eye on Battalion.
Timeline, you seem to know more about what's going on here than I do, you also haven't been shot at yet and you've got more experience with portals than me; I'll let you follow Mr. Silver first.
Timeline looks to John
I could tell you some time
Timeline follows Silver
Its safe my friends i assure you
Then let's eat.
Baker smiles at Wild Fire.
Ladies first?
I'm in. Still sounds like a good night and I don't pass up a good meal.
Wild Fire smiles back. Well aren't you the gentleman.
She saunters forward into the portal.
will the General be joining us? I was under the impression that my performance would be evaluated by him personally and i would like to know what he thinks. If my debriefing should occur later i understand.
Whispering at timeline
From seeing what you tried to build, you could do with some education in portal technology as well
So Beryl you can make portals as well aye? Well if I do say your organization intrigues me but not in the way it should im afraid. I do appreciate the apology Mr.Silver but its what I expected to be honest with a large organization of super powered beings.
Whispering To Joe
Ive got it down I just need more time.
As Battalion walks through the portal, his battlesuit begins to fold and compress itself revealing the man underneath. Tall and swarthy, John Johnson is the epitomy of fashion sense in his almost business appropriate casual wear. His battlesuit is nowhere to be seen.
So Silver, you are paying for dinner this time right? After all we are using my reserved booth again.
Hey don't give me that look. Last time we had a soiree like this you ended up throwing a Robot Zombie through their stain glass cathedral window. Do you know how much one of those costs? More than you make in a year.
John, you know that the Guardians of Earth is a non-profit organization and I hardly think there will be any further attacks from the Baron's automatons now that he is dead. You are arguably the richest man in the nation if not the world so if anyone can afford to replace a priceless stain-glass window of the Virgin Mary then it would be you.
Beryl, I need you to inform General Rencore that Joseph here will be detained a little longer. Allow them free access to his exam results.
Silver thinks for a minute. Let him know this is a formal reward reserved for only the top 1%. They will be returned to the Silver Spire when dinner is concluded.
With your consent, you are led into , a 5-star restaurant on Manhattan Ave. just a stone's throw from Maximum City's towering financial district. Seeing Mr. Johnson, you are immediately led to a private booth in the back reserved for associates of Battalion. Menus are provided and selections of wine are presented. The waiters hardly bat an eye at your various costumes, apparently used to the rather unusual nature of Mr. Johnson's guests.
Well Mr.Johnson Ive been meaning to talk to you for awhile now its not everyday I have another great mind to converse with and that to be honest is the only reason I took the test, No offense Mr.Silver but I Never been to keen about working with a team until Ive met these fellows here, they had my back when they didn't have to very admirable if you ask me. But im getting a head of my self now John you must tell me how you were able to push the parameters of you simulator mine is a fine simulator but not nearly as efficient as yours i could never make it feel as real as yours did towards the end on that last test it felt so real i thought I had died for real a moment. Also your suit intrigues me ive see similar designs but not in this time period, it was in the future that Ive seen it but you've somehow perfected it before its time. I would love to look over your suit sometime.
Wild Fire sits down in the booth and directs her attention to Maximum Silver while Timeline and Mr. Johnson talk.
I hope you don't think me too direct, Mr. Silver, but I would rather get right to questions rather than circling each other with pleasantries. I'm sure all of us have plenty of questions and I think starting now would ensure that all of them get answered. Would you object to that?
Silver finishes ordering and addresses Wild Fire. Of course not, your directness is refreshing especially from one as entrancing as yourself.
He waits for Beryl and Tempest to join you and until everyone orders dinner. Let us get down to the brass tacks shall we? I am offering you a position at the Guardians of Earth. You will go through a trial training period after which you will join the upper ranks of our organizationas as is befitting ones of your talents.
He pauses as the food is being served. Understand though, with entitlement, comes even greater responsibility. Rising in the ranks of the GoE is not the path to fame or glory. People will either fear your power or attempt to abuse it in ever more imaginative ways. What I offer you should not be taken lightly as the burden of it has broken many over the few years we've been running.
Wild Fire smirks and raises an eyebrow at the complement and almost comes back with a clever remark. Come on, keep your head; this is business.
Could you explain the responsibilities in better detail and the time commitment of them? Each of us have other activities to balance. I also heard earlier that you are a not for profit, but being part of the organization must still come with some benefits or incentives to join. At least some that are not the benefit of being part of the community; there must be more to that.
Eh, it was nothing just tweaked the quantum cancellation field to oscillate at a sub-harmonic frequency only bugs can see. Or bug men.
He takes a large sip from his cocktail. I for one am very interested in that teleporting device of yours. You seem able to get around the Hencke-Trisk theoretical flux barrier. He begins to poke at your wrist devices.
We have a pool! Also we help people and stuff.
Tempest ravenously devours the lobster placed in front of him in one go. His mouth overflowing with food he reiterates.
Id I enchun e ave n idor poo?
Actually my device doesn't control my teleportation its my natural abilities, however I have just recently cracked the code if you would and am real close to a portal device in my personal HQ. I will have it operational I can see within a couple of weeks but I would love for us to get together on a project in the future just think what too minds of our caliber could come up with. I just wish I had your financial resources.
Everyone who becomes part of teh GoE is expected to devote their life to making the world a better place. While you are encouraged to continue you normal lives you will be called to patrol periodically and are placed indefinitely "on call". Madness and mayhem adhere to no schedule. A hero must be prepared at any moment to be called to action.
Silver takes another bite of his meal. Forgive me if that sounds harsh. But a heroe's life is no bed of roses.
A couple of weeks, ha! I've been at it for 3 years now and still haven't perfected it. And I'm not talking about those piddly transporters that create a new copy on the other end then destroy the original mind you. We're talking about proving the theory that the universe is actually only one particle traveling at infinite speed forward and backwards through time. Thus teleporting can happen over any distance, even time itself, if one simply knew n what order the particle happened in.
You of course must mean one of those "faxing" type transporters?
Not really it works as my portal that I can create does and as the master of time and quantum mechanics that I am Ive found a way to replicate it, however it still has a few bugs in transferring my ability to a device but my theory is sound and with a proper power source that I just designed it should work just fine.
@ timeline
You should keep me away from this tempest, he is starting to convince me, and i don't know how i feel about that.
Beryl Beacon interjects, Please, Ms. Fire how is it that you've come by your powers? I am quite intrigued as we seem to have similar powers only polar opposites. Crap the little runt seems to be rubbing off on me. He glares at Tempest. No pun intended.
My powers formed from a priceless stone I found in the Antarctic. Perhaps you found yours inside a volcano?
@Joe
I dont know how you can understand him I can barley get a jist of what hes saying, but I assure you it will not benefit use to operate the way they would want us too.
I'm sorry, but i am not all that familiar with all of the supers and how your organization works. How does the GOE work with the government, or is it a subsidiary of the UN? Also Maximum, how did the negotiations in Australia go over? you must have just gotten back.
@ Tempest
so where in the tower is the indoor pool? having that much water on a higher level must limit its size and capacity, but then again you do have the funding of Mr. Johnson and the nature of your organization would necessitate a large training area for underwater simulations, unless the simulation rooms are used for that and the pool is just for pleasure
@maximum
I wonder since you work internationally, if you have worked in the area of South-Western Asia, specifically in my homeland of Israel. Perhaps you have worked with the local hero out there, the Star of Zion? His family has been defending the countries borders for 3 generations.
@SILVER
I'm with Wildfire on this one, though a bit more skeptical. We've been swept off our proverbial feet without much reason other than a "Oh my, you're special; I'm going to attempt to shoot you now to prove it."
Baker casts a sidelong glance at John Johnson, who is still busy talking to Timeline.
I think I'd like to know a bit more about your whole organization, as Wildfire already asked, as well as what type of special person it takes to get tested, then shot at, then invited to dinner at the ritzy-est joint in town. It's all moving a bit fast for my liking, and I try to be one who knows all the facts before making any kind of decision.
Baker takes a sip of water, waiting for Silver to respond.
@JOE
As for this guy...
He motions at Tempest,
I think I've got a hunch, but that can be a conversation for later.
@Silver: I do understand that and my professional life allows for weird "excursions" from time to time. I understand that the responsibility would be great and I didn't expect it to ever be bed of roses, but I still love what I do and I'm not willing to be the total and complete super hero. I still would like to know why your organization?
@Beacon: I..."awoke" to my powers from the quake; I think I was 16 or 17 at the time. I can only assume that there is something that is a part of my being that makes this possible. My mother told me stories when we were kids that our ancestors were able to control fire; Lord knows how long ago that was though. So between this story and a mutation I already had, I can only assume it's just me being me and the quake just unleashed it haha. Finding something in a volcano would have been much more interesting, but I don't think I would have made it out alive of that one haha. Wasn't immune to fire before all this came about. May I ask for your story? What were you doing in the Antarctic?
@Joe: We are technically a non-profit organization sanctioned to operate in most of the countries that make up the UN. Our funding comes from the UN directly, but not without a few strings attached. We are allowed a large amount of autonomy but the current Secreteary-General can call us into action at any time. He needs a certain minimum vote from the member nations to keep us deployed for any extended period of time. And despite the wild rumors to the contrary, we are not fitted with any devices that force their will upon ours or kill us if we go rogue. Each nation tends to keep a certain number of superpowered "resources" in reserve in case something like that was to happen.
As for the Australia peace talks, they are going well and are unfortunately the reason for this evening's haste. I will need to head back soon in order to conclude the negotiations. I will likely arrive in time for the opening moments of the morning meeting. The Australian Militia are still reticent about giving up rights to their primary water source so that it can become a central neutral zone for all parties involved.
@Fate: You really weren't aware? He looks sidelong at Beryl who just shrugs. Supers of your power level usually fall into two categories. Dead or evil. Since the World Wake, approximatly 1 in 100,000 humans finds themselves in possession of special abilities. Only 1 in 1,000,000 has any abilities that can be considered truly "super". Only 1 in 10,000,000 could pass a Power level 10 exam.
He lets the numbers sink in a bit before continuing. Out of nearly 7 billion people on this planet, there are only about 700 powerful supers at any given moment. Many don't make it through their first year once their powers manifest due to accidents or risks involved with these powers. Of those that do survive, most turn to lives of crime or self-sastifaction. Only about 100 of those 700 individuals find ways to actively serve the greater good. So forgive me for such an abrupt offer but it is a rare day when not one but four individuals pass the exam and show such exemplary morals.
@Wild Fire: To answer yours and Risen Fate's question, we use a loose tier structure for the organization. The tiers are city, regional, national, and global. Myself, Beryl, Tempest, Battalion and a handleful of others makes up the entirety of the global tier. We also have a very active super support group-
Sidekicks!
-that lend a much needed helping hand whenever they can. You will recieve pay bi-weekly and we do offer life insurance and a good dental plan. The pay isn't great but that isn't truly what the Guardians is about now is it. Once you complete a training period we can start you off in Maximum City at the city level. I'm sure Kid- err Kinetic would appreciate the backup. If you prove yourselves capable and worthy of it, we can always use more help at the regional, national, and even global levels.
The hours that you would "work" are very flexible as there is no set amount. You are asked to simply to keep crime down and to respond immediately to those in distress. Also be very sure that you obey the law. We are here to aid and assist in the capture of criminals not become them ourselves.
The pool is on the roof! Wait...how did we get it up there?