(CLOSED) My hands are tied, for all I've seen has changed my mind

[alittlesweptup]

Date & Time: Forward-dated to Nov. 16 0300hrs through Nov.19th ~0230hrs
Location: Observatory, East Loading Bay, Transporter Room, Various (read: everywhere)
Characters: Pro-Initiative and Mutineer action teams
Summary: With mutineers occupying the transporter room and vital base systems hamstrung, Pro-Initiative forces work against mutineer teams to bring those systems back online and reach the transporter room.
Warnings: None yet (will update as necessary...because lbr ‘none yet’ isn’t going to last long)
Notes: All threads, with the exception of the Transporter Room B, are open for posting beginning now. Transporter Room B will kick off on Nov.16th proper in order to incorporate decision making from earlier action team’s choices and to maintain tonal cohesion. Community wide mingle log for the mutiny will go up on Nov. 16th.

[At 0300hrs on November 16th, things suddenly go wrong. The network cuts out, lighting abruptly goes from artificially sterile to the unsettling flickering of red emergency lighting. Furniture, supplies and even Transports suddenly find themselves untethered from the ground as the base’s gravity regulation abruptly shuts down; moreover, it isn’t long before Transports begin to realize they’ve been locked off from anything but the housing(/restrooms), vr and cafeteria sections of the base. Not long after:

Click-HHHSSSHK-click!

A woman’s voice speaks over the moon base’s PA system, echoing through the dark corridors and off the odds and ends gently floating through them thanks to the lack of gravity regulation. The voice is rich and accented, with a certain practiced ease to it - one that sharpens to a point the longer she talks:]

Testing. Testing-- are we good? Christ, I'm not echoing, am I? No?

All right good. Listen up, fellow transports. As you might have noticed, some of the base's general systems have gone offline: this, I assure you, is absolutely intentional. There's no need to panic.

So moving on from the understandably frustrating to the even more frustrating, I'm sure you all have also noticed the fact that we're currently all stuck-- starving and defenseless-- on the bloody moon. In a base that was, up until a few days ago, overrun with zombies. And before that, thousands of lives were bombed right out of existence, and before that, an entire world-- and before that we were all still being thrown at the United Earth for the sake of dying off repeatedly in a war we never stood a chance or had a say in. Transports have been treated like pawns since day one, and I'm sorry, but we don't deserve it.

If we're giving up our lives and our freedom, I'd say it's about time we earned ourselves a little equality.

We deserve a say in what goes on in this fight, and with that in mind, a few of us have decided to hold onto the transporter for a while. Just until the Initiative agrees to treat us like people instead of ammunition. Trust me, we’re not here to hurt anyone; none of this has to end badly. But it does need to end. Things have got to change. And if this is what it takes? This is what it’s going to be.

We need your help; please don’t make it any harder for us.

[The PA clicks off, pitching the base once more into complete radio silence.

Over the course of the next four days, pro-Initiative transports gather their resources and individuals form impromptu (or well planned) teams to bring these systems back online and out of the hands of mutineers so they can ultimately reach the transporter room and set things to right -- whatever that “right” may be.]

Comments

[skennen]

[Unfortunately for Kang, Connor's mind is completely made up on this matter.

And he wasn't kidding about that warning being his last.

It's frustrating that it's come to this, but what other option does he have? They need to leave and neither words nor idle threats have dissuaded them. So be it. Connor hauls the bow string back and fires his second arrow. Similar to the first arrow shot, it isn't aimed at anyone in particular but rather snaps into the middle of the group, around the level of their knees this time.

Before it's even reached them, though, Connor's up and moving, his bow slung back around him. He abandons stealth for another tactic: he leaps up onto the junk he'd been taking cover behind and sprints across an unstable 'bridge' to a larger pile nearby. Stepping up to the top of that heap, he uses his weight to tip the wobbling structure forward. He draws his tomahawk and a small sphere from his jacket belt as he rides the collapsing pile down pretty much on top of the group.

To complicate things further, he throws the sphere as he falls. The smoke bomb explodes on contact with the floor, releasing a thick, grey cloud his opponents will have to fight through until it dissipates. He engages his left hidden blade to arm his now free hand and gives the tomahawk a quick spin, triggering the effect it's gained as it's evolved with his training: thin glowing beams lash out around the weapon, burning anything they come in contact with.]

[highfrequency]

[Well, talking is apparently not working. Something dark inside Raiden is okay with this and uncoils when it becomes time to take action.

He is in motion the moment Connor is and he turns towards the toppling debris as it falls, hopping over and across boxes when they slide towards him.

The smoke bomb goes off near his feet, blinding him for a second but he continues to swing his sword in the direction he suspects Connor is moving in. The blade clangs against the whirling tomahawk in an awkward parry and the beams lash across Raiden's armor plating, raising sparks. Raiden doesn't feel any pain with his inhibitors still running but he knows he's taken damage.]

STOP!

[governorkang]

[It's a good thing that no one else in the loading bay knows Nerakese, because the curses that leave Kang's mouth are particularly dirty as the arrow misses his legs, but grazes his tail, leaving a scratch with a line of greenish blood. He takes a deep breath as soon as he sees the smoke bomb, reaching into a pouch at his side to pull out a piece of something wispy and white before chanting words in a different language and pointing at Connor. If he doesn't dodge it, the spell will trap the assassin in place. There's plenty of surfaces for the strands to adhere to, thanks to his defensive setup.]

[givetheslip]

Shit!

[So much for the defensive plan. Then again, it was clear that negotiations (such as they were) were about to break down, and they'd always known it would come to this. Maria would still rather this not get deadly, but she's irrevocably cast her lot in with the mutineers, and she'll have Connor's back all the way.

Which is easier said than done. A man that size has no business being so fast, and she's several seconds behind him when she manages to scramble around the pile that had concealed her. Connor's got matters well in hand—her eyes go wide at the sight of very familiar glowing beams.

But no matter how well he's doing, three against one makes for bad odds. The least she can do is try to even them out. Sword in hand, Maria goes for the woman, and hopes that Connor can take care of the other two.]

[lar]

[ Well, that went wonderful.

Ella had let the adults talk, but once things starte spiraling out of control she closes the distance once more. Being slightly behind actually proved to be useful, as the whole commotion cause by Connor doesn't quite reach her by surprise. And this time she doesn't even get hit. ]

I guess this is when we try to restrain them without hurting them too much, right?

[ Seeing how Raiden and Kang are busy with Connor, Ella goes over to Kate, a hand raised towards Maria.

Moments later, sparks start flying from her fingers, extending to her entire hand and all the way up to her elbow; it's as if Ella is basically holding a lightning on her hand, electricity flowing from it and sometimes "spilling" down to the floor, leaving dark charred marks. ]

Stand down! I can set it to stun, but it's not going to be pretty anyway.

[gevurah]

[ As everyone springs into action, Batwoman follows suite.

She hauls her cape close to her mouth as a safety precaution, but as it's made clear the bomb is only meant to veil Connor and Maria's movements, she drops everything and reaches toward her mask. ]

Activate infrared.

[ The whites of her "eyes" drown in blood red, allowing to gaze through the smoke for heat signals.

While the men fight with each other, Batwoman looks for Maria. Drawing out her grappling gun, she stalks through the smoke for the other woman. ]

Don't —

[ She's seen Ella burned already. No matter how powerful or skilled she might be, she pushes herself past Ella to get between her and Maria.

The sword grazes her arm and she groans aloud. Stupid, should have —

She aims her line toward Maria's leg and fires, to try and ensnare her and yank her down. ]

[

[givetheslip]

[First blood is hers, and that might be all she gets, because before Maria can even identify the weapon Batwoman's drawn, the line whips around her lower calves, the force of it knocking her to the ground and nearly knocking the wind out of her.]

Damn!

[She's down, but not out—ignoring the pain of impact, Maria holds her sword defensively, ready to protect herself from whoever approaches next and attack if they're stupid enough to get close. All the while she wriggles her ankles frantically, trying to slip her feet out of the line, but it's too tight and there's a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. With her left hand, she reaches for a dagger at her side, but there may not be enough time to try and cut the line.]

[lar]

Batwoman, stand back.

[ Not wasting a moment, Ella crouches and focuses on the ground. She wasn't so good at intimidating Maria, but she was going to make sure she didn't go anywhere anytime soon.

Her fingers brush the floor, and a moment later, a a thick portion of it rises and quickly envelopes her like a blanket, pinning her down to the ground, the sword disappearing on a "fold" of the piece of the floor crawling on her. It's tight, but nothing too tight; other than moving, Maria is fine. ]

Now, don't move.

[gevurah]

She's not going anywhere.

[ She watches as Ella works her magic and retracts her line, listening for the hook to click back in place. She slips it back into her belt, gazing coldly down at Maria.

Torn skin burns. She had grown sturdier, but Maria had gotten close enough to her to do some damage. She'll have to stitch it back on her own later. ]

[givetheslip]

[Oh, and she's so sorry about the wound, except for how she isn't. Maria glares up at them and says nothing. Whatever's to come, she'll remain silent.]

[skennen]

Leave!

[No sooner has Connor's tomahawk met Raiden's sword than he's ducking his shoulder and launching himself into a roll right around the other man. From a kneeling position, he swings his tomahawk at Raiden's leg and then immediately he's back on his feet, dodging away from an expected retaliatory strike... and avoiding the spell cast his way in the process. He turns his head to regard Kang with a snarl. A magic lizard man and a man who seems to be more metal and armor than flesh.

Thankfully, Maria's joined the fray and... No, wait, Maria's down. Connor can only afford to shoot her a brief look of concern before he focuses his attention back on the two he's dealing with.]

[highfrequency]

[Raiden hops back, avoiding the tomahawk but only narrowly. Conner is skilled, that much is obvious. If he's going to end this he has to act fast...

Raiden's eye flashes red as he powers up his chassis's combat functions and lunges towards the assassin, swinging the high-frequency blade in a wide arc towards the side of Conner's head.

It is not a blow intended to kill but if the other man doesn't act fast he might be knocked out by the flat of the sword.]

[skennen]

[Blows to the head have always been surprisingly effective against Connor.

He goes from a blur of enraged motion to a crumpled heap on the floor just like that.

Ow.]