Log:Out Numbered: Conclusion

Out Numbered 2013/08/21 	 Anthony Quinn Bee Harlequin Lynn Harlan Porter Ten Yushio

7

Champions Mush - Wednesday, August 21, 2013, 1:56 PM

Several days have passed since the battle against Scarletti and her Numbers at Star Guard DC HQ. Funf and Zehn are still at large, but, being largely non-combatants, no one is too worried. The rogue Space and Dimension Patrol Agency (SPDA) general Grissom and his surviving crew were picked up by Star Guard's ship and placed in custody. Scarletti and her Numbers are being held at Tranquility pending negotiations with the SDPA.

The SDPA Patrol Cruiser 'Asura' has arrived in orbit, commanded by Admiral Lynn Harlan (the real one this time!). She's been working with Spirit and other Star Guard officials to figure out the best way to deal with Scarletti.

Pleiades has had her arm reattached thaks to the medical staff and facilities aboard the 'Asura'. And her partner, Saggitarius, has has had Scarletti' personality alterations undone. Al Hazzared Independent AI Device 'Ragnarok' is unaccounted for. The Bifrost Cannon Core is in Star Guard custody.

Doubtlessly there are a lot of tedious negotiations to go through, but today, it's a simple meet and greet with the SDPA crew, and a chance for Admiral Harlan to thank the Earth heroes.

The SDPA Patrol Cruiser 'Asura' has arrived in orbit, commanded by Admiral Lynn Harlan (the real one this time!). She's been working with Spirit and other Star Guard officials to figure out the best way to deal with Scarletti.

Pleiades has had her arm reattached thaks to the medical staff and facilities aboard the 'Asura'. And her partner, Saggitarius, has has had Scarletti' personality alterations undone. Al Hazzared Independent AI Device 'Ragnarok' is unaccounted for. The Bifrost Cannon Core is in Star Guard custody.

Doubtlessly there are a lot of tedious negotiations to go through, but today, it's a simple meet and greet with the SDPA crew, and a chance for Admiral Harlan to thank the Earth heroes.

Lynn Harlan raises her glass, "Good afternoon everyone! I'm so happy to get to meet so many excellent heroes. The SDPA, and myself personally, thank you for all you have done."

Ten smiles her thanks, but isn't quite sure what to say. THough she may have been involved in a lot of the fighting, she's still a bit vague on what all this was about.

Yushio flies to the DC Starguard HQ and changes back to Yushio on arriving there. She takes a glass on wine from the bar, just for the sake of holding something, and observes the proceedings from a quiet spot on the perimeter of the reception room. She still not that comfortable in these situations.

Lynn Harlan walks up to Ten, "Hello, Ten, isn't it? Pleiades has talked about you before. Have you been getting along with the cute little AI device she gave you?"

Pleiades runs up to Yushio, "Thank you for coming!"

Saggitarius hangs out by the buffet table, not sure what to say, and being a bit awkward about what she did under Scarletti's control.

Sasha stands not far from Sagitarius, his cloak drawn about himself. He turns to watch Admiral Harlan greet Ten then his attention is drawn to Pleiades greeting Yushio.

Much to everyone's surprise Anthony arrives, strolling in as if he hasn't been missing in action for the past several weeks. "No, I'm serious," he says, carrying on his side of a conversation as he talks into his qPid. "They were all like, 'Yes, we know that we're piloting a five hundred foot tall robot that should by all right be armed with missiles and rockets, with two nuclear reactors, a plasma cannon and even a pair of freaking ginormous swords that will pop out of the backs of our hands, but beating this thing to death with a boat seems like our best option." He listens to the reply on the other end and laughs. "Yeah. I don't get it either," he says. "I mean seriously, why wouldn't their first option have been to light these things up while they're out in the middle of the ocean and then go to hand to hand with them when they get close enough. It just makes no sense whatsoever. Anyway, I'm here now so I'll talk to you later on." He hangs up his phone and looks around at the assembled group. "Hi guys, what did I miss?" he asks.

Ten grins. "It's certainly very unusual - we don't really have anything quite like that here!"

Yushio returns Pleiades greeting, and then admits, "These events scare me. I'm still not used to meeting people in such numbers."

Lynn Harlan smiles fondly at Ten, "I'm glad too see Pleiades has made friends here."

Pleiades grins sheepishly at Yushio, "I'm terrible at these things, but, I can hang out with you if you want the company."

Saggitarius crosses her arms and glowers at Harlequin.

One of the staff comes up to Anthony with a plate, "Bacon wrapped scallops, sir?"

Ten nods to Lynn. "I must admit, I'm still a bit confused what this was all about."

Yushio nods "Thank you. But shouldn't you be the center of attention. This is your organisation, isn't it? I admit I'm not really sure about the background to what's gone on."

Harlequin turns his head towards Sagitarrius. In a muddled RP accent he murmurs softly, "Be careful. My aunt always warned me your face could freeze like that when you pout." His tone is gentle and fatherly.

Anthony waves off the staffer offering the goodies. "No, thank you," he says with a smile. "Although I could use a drink. Any idea where I could grab one?"

Lynn Harlan laughs quietly, "We're still unwraveing it, but I think it went something like this: Genera Grissom got in contact with Dr. Scarletti somehow, and arranged a lab for her her on Earth, too work on projects forbidden by the SDPA. Scarletti either knew, or discovered, that the Bifrost Cannon Core was on this planet. At the same time Saggitarius had been sent to Earth by the SDPA to see if rumors of a Dangerous Artifact being present were correct." She takes a sip of her drink.

Ten gives Quinn a smile on his arrival, but keeps talking to Lunn.

Ten nods, following most of that.

The waiter nods to Anthony, "You'll find the bar next to that young woman with the wine glass, sir." He motions toward Yushio and Pleiades.

Saggitarius sniffs at Harlequin, "That doesn't sound like any magic I know."

Lynn Harlan continues, "Dr. Scarletti captured and reprogrammed Saggitarius. When we lost contact with her, we sent Pleiades to follow up. Scarletti laid low for several months, until she had enough of her Numbers and Drones available to strike. Her first move was to try to capture Pleiades. If she had succeeded, she would have deprived the Earth heroes of a great dea of information about who she was and how she opperated. Failing that, she sent Saggitarius to try, but she was captured by Star Guard." She takes another drink.

Pleiades nods to Yushio, "I'm still workig through the reports myself, but I think Admiral Harlan has the big picture."

Harlequin chuckles softly. "It is not magic, Sagitarrius. Simply an attempt by my aunt to sacre me into being polite. She was a bit of a harridan."

Ten laughs. "No wonder I was so confused. All a bit complicated...."

Yushio nods to Pleiades, "So who are the SDPA? Is it a Guild organisation?"

Lynn Harlan smiles sadly, "Around that time, Scarletti's Drones discovered the Bifrost Core, but were prevented from taking it by Mr. Quinn and other heroes. Her true objective in sight, she launched an all out attack with her drones to divert attention as her Numbers stole the Bifrost Core from Mr. Quinn. Shortly thereafter, she surrendered to keep Star Guard confused while her Numbers worked on preparing the trap at her base in Mount Cerebus."

Pleiades shakes her head, "Um, no, we're from space-time-dimension planes fairly far from this one. We don't have any worlds in this time-space-dimension plane, and I think, from what I've heard, is that your Guild is a local spacial organization?"

Anthony orders a drink from the bartender and then turns to Yushio as his drink is being made. "They're extra-dimensional in their purview," he says before turning to Pleiades for confirmation. "And I believe the Guild is strictly a local organization, dimensionally speaking."

Ten thinks. o O (Well, keeping us confused worked. On me at least!)

Saggitarius grins at Harlequinn, "I see. But you do know magic, right? I can see that you have a strong Yggdrasil Core."

Pleiades nods to Anthony, "That's right."

Harlequin nods in a slightly distracted manner to Saggitarius. "Yes, I practice the Art. Well, I do not practice enough, but yes, I am a mage. From a young age."

As his drink arrives Anthony takes a deep sip of it. "In fact," he says, "it's actually been bothering me a bit. All examples of their technology seem to have no significant connection to multidimensional theory that I've been kind of wondering how it was that they were able to manage hyperspace."

Lynn Harlan takes a sip and continues, "General Grissom had arrived by this time, come to figure out why Scarletti has stopped reporting in, and hoping to take the Bifrost Core for himself. Scarletti, or rather, one of her Numbers, Ein, acting as her, decided to try to use the Bifrost Core to lure the Star Guard heroes and Grissom into a trap. Keep the Core there until the last second, and then detonate the volcano, killing the heroes, and launching a directed anti-ship strike at Grissom's commando transport."

Ten nods. SHe's on more familiar territory now.

Yushio smiles as she sees and hears Anthony. "Quinn-San. A pleasure." she says with a slight bow. "That exhausts my quota of Japanese cultural traditions for the day. I find my childhood in America has left me a very un-Japanese Japanese. For instance, they would never discuss business at such an event as this. I want to hire space on your space station when you get it finished."

Saggitarius hehs, "Practice is important! There's no way we can keep up with monsters like Pleiades if we slack off!"

Lynn Harlan says, "The rest you know, I think. Your team manged to survive the trap, and return in time to keep Scarletti from escaping, and capture most of her Numbers.""

Pleiades shrugs, "I don't the details, but we use a mix of science and magic, so maybe that's why our technology doesn't make sense to you, Mr. Quinn."

Anthony returns Yushio's bow with one of his own. "Miss Takaga," he says, still smiling. "I hope your father is well. Now that I'm back I should be able to finish up the station and get it up into orbit, although I seem to have lost my primary lifter. What is it that you're interested in doing?"

Ten nods. "Yes - that clear things up a lot. By the way - I've heard it mentioned more than once - what's an Yggdrasil Core?

Anthony laughs a bit to Pleiades and shakes his head. "No, no," he says smiling. "You people certainly have a good grasp of multidimensional theory. I was referring to the Guild."

Lynn Harlan smiles, "It's the part of you that forms your connection to Magic, at least the magic we practice. You might think of it as a soul, of you believe in such things."

Anthony returns Yushio's bow with one of his own. "Miss Takaga," he says, still smiling. "I hope you're doing well. Now that I'm back I should be able to finish up the station and get it up into orbit, although I seem to have lost my primary lifter. What is it that you're interested in doing?"

Ten nods, with a slight worried look.

Lynn Harlan tilts her head slightly, "Is something wrong, dear?"

Yushio nods to Anthony, "Quite well, thank you. I want to use your space station as a construction platform for a interstellar capable spaceship. Takaga has been at the forefront of areo-tech for many decades. It's time we set our sights higher."

Ten says, "Well..... it's.. well, I do believe in souls. But - well, given how I came by my powers, um, well, the though of things beign so closely associated with souls, um, well....."

Pleiades wanders over to Harlequin and Saggitarius, "I'm not a monster! And don't put down your own abilities, Saggitarius!"

Anthony chuckles and takes another sip of his drink. "Ah, well, the station will certainly be well suited for that," he says, "as that is part of what I was planning. Perhaps you would be interested in a joint venture? I've had great success with getting Miguel Alcubierre's theoretical drive working."

Lynn Harlan smiles gently, "Is there something you'd like to talk about? Perhaps at another time? Maybe it's my maternal instincts, but I have a hard time walking away from someone that's troubled."

Harlequin murmurs to Saggitarius, "Well, Pleiades is a very cute monster. Are you certain you are using the right word to describe her?"

Yushio nods to Anthony and then smiles, "I'm sure we can come to a acceptable joint venture agreement for the construction of the Takaga Explorer. I was intending to scale up my own gravity wrap drive for the ship. However I'd be greatly interested in seeing your delevopment of the Alcubierre drive."

Saggitarius glares daggers at Harlequin, "Don't call her cute! And she's a monster! She's tireless, she never gives up, she's always cheering people up, she's really strong and... and.... Ahh! Stop looking at me with those eyes of yours Pleiades!"

Pleiades blushes, "Wh-what? I'm just happy to see you being you again!"

Harlequin chuckles softly. "My my. Brought low by a pair of eyes."

Pleiades glomps Saggitarius, "I've missed you!"

Saggitarius acks and tries to push Pleiades away, "Ahh! Get off me you monster! N-not here!"

Ten looks toward Saggitarius and Pleiades.

Lynn Harlan chuckles, "Oh, don't mind them. They've been like that since I've known them, nearly 10 years now."

Ten says, "Ok...."

Lynn Harlan smiles, "They're more than friends, Saggitarius just hates admitting it in public for some reason."

Anthony returns Yushio's nod with one of his own. "Perhaps you could give me some assistance with another one of my projects," he says. "A more terrestrial aircraft for those occasions when travelling via Transmat may not be practical."

Harlequin watches the glomping and thinks. o O(Well, how often do you see that? A hardened warior brought low by a hug and puppy eyes. How sweet really." He says however, "Do you need help Saggitarius? It seems the monsters has you well in hand..."

Saggitarius manages to push Pleiades away (or Pleiades lets her!), "I'm fine! I can handle her! Any time on any battle field, I can take whatever she can dish out!"

Bee watches eyes from her hiding place, repeating the trick she pulled hiding Scarletti. When all eyes, fall of a certain empty chair, she sits in it, then says, "Do we know what backup plans Scarletti had in place? Can we expect to see more cloned Numbers or worse, a cloned Scarletti in the near future?"

Ten says, "Yes well. Such things can be... awkward for some people."

Pleiades turns beet red, "Ahhh! Don't say such embarassing things Saggitarius!"

Yushio says, "I'd be pleased to Anthony. Although I thought the issues with terrestrial aircraft had long been solved? Unless you mean the mundane practicalities of construction a custom craft. In which case our prototype facility at Nagimisa might be exactly suited for your needs."

Harlequin murmurs softly, "Well, I must agree with Pleiades, Saggitarius. That is perhaps too much information." His voice is fullof suppresses humor.

Lynn Harlan smiles and nods to Ten. She turns to Bee, "Nice to meet you, Bee, was it? I'm sure Scarletti hand back up plans. There's a possibility that one or both of the Numbers at large will give birth to her clone. We'll be keeping a presence on this planet to help out in case such a thing occurs."

Saggitarius sputters at Harlequin, "Sh-shut up, Shut Up! SHUT UP! Th-that's not what I meant!"

Anthony chuckles a little to Yushio. "Well, the basic concepts of aircraft certainly have long been solved," he says, "but there's always aspects that are at cross purposes. Size, manueverability, profile, speed... and I'm toying around with the idea of making the middle section modular so that the passenger cabin can be swapped out for another cabin, depending upon circumstances."

Anthony says, "I would be very grateful to have an expert's help with some of those design aspects."

Dorian comes into the room, and closes the door quietly. He looks around at everyone here. . o O (Hmm. I was hoping to speak to Star Girl. Oh well...next time I see her.)

Ten acknowledges DOrian's arrival with a nod.

Yushio laughs quietly after Anthony speaks, "I have a design for such a aircraft. It will definitely need revising and updating since I did the design when I was ten. There's a very old cartoon, in fact puppet characters, TV series that used a modular middle sectioin that could be swapped. What was the name..? Ah, I remember. International Rescue."

Dorian nods and waves back to Ten, "Hey there."

Yushio corrects herself, "No. That was the name of the organisation that owned the craft. The TV series was called Thunderbirds."

Ten says, "Hey. I was beginning to wonder if you wouldn't show!"

Harlequin stands next to Pleiades and Saggitarius. Pleiades is being twee, Saggitarius is flustered, and Harlequin is looking on insscrutably. The last is greatly adied by the fact he wears a full face mask.

Bee is sitting at a chair a bit away from the others, legs crossed like she has been there for hours.

Quinn pauses a moment to try and dredge up "Thunderbirds" from memory. "I don't recall that," he says, "but then I don't recall the series very well. Was one of them modular or did it just carry another vehicle? I can't recall, although that is a possible module so I suppose it is pretty close."

Lynn Harlan offers Dorian her hand, "Mr. Perrault! A pleasure to meet you face to face."

Dorian smiles to Ten, "Had a few calls I needed to make first." He shakes Lynn's hand. "Nice to meet you as well. For real, this time."

Yushio tells Quinn, "I'm amazed to even know of the series. It's almost a century old. The transporter was a truly modular design, able to swap out the entire middle section to instantly load different equipment for different situations."

Pleiades grins and bows to Harlequin, "Thanks for all your help, by the way. From what I heard, that last fight could have been a lot harder without you."

Harlequin murmurs to Pleiades, "I did very little but thank you nonetheless. I am certain the others could have dealt with Drei and Funf."

Harlequin adds, "I think it was Drei."

Anthony chuckles a little and gives a slight shrug of his shoulders. "It's one of those classics," he says with a smile, "like John Carter of Mars or Tales of Known Space."

Lynn Harlan says, "Thank you for dealing with our problem Mr. Perrault, and for helping take care of Pleiades. I'm glad to know that she'll be in good hands here."

Bee pouts a bit that hardly anyone has acknowledged she has spoken, let alone asked a question.

Ten says, "We do our best!"

Bee thinks .oO (This never happens to Batman. When he speaks, side conversations stop. I've still got a bit to learn)

Yushio grins like a little girl at Anthony, "Edger Rice Burroughs, and Larry Niven. I didn't know you were a class SiFi fan too."

Dorian nods to Lynn, "I'm not used to having to deal with this kind of apocalyptic sort of problem, but...I'm glad we were able to basically pull it off. Everyone did a great job. Everyone."

Saggitarius sniffs, "Don't sell yourself short. If you hadn't stopped her, she might have killed Bee, or tied up Aoi, keeping her from using her neural attack on the tougher Numbers. Like I keep telling this dummy," she points her thumb at Pleiades, "a tactical fight has a lot of moving parts. Setting up all the parts, and seeing who they all interact is what separates a fighter from a tactician."

Anthony chuckles a bit to Yushio. "I'm more familiar with their existence than with their particulars," he says, "but I've always been a fan of anyone looking towards the future. All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible."

Bee nods in agreement with Saggitarius, "Not all of us escaped unscathed. It could have been much worse."

Yushio applauds Anthony, clapping her hands loudly. Then she bows in respect, "I am honoured to know you, Quinn-San."

Harlequin shrugs slightly. "I simply acted, Saggitarius. I wish I could claim tactical skill but I perceived Bee had fallen so I stepped in to prevent a coup de grace." He gestures to the others present. "I am a rather, hmm, squishy mage in comparision to the physical powerhouses who were present."

Anthony laughs a little and grins. "It is probably about the only part of my English Lit class that I can recall," he says, "but at least that quote has stuck with me."

Bee says, "The definition of a hero has nothing to do with what people are capable of and everything to do with what they actually do."

Saggitarius puts her hands on her hips and nods, to Bee and Harlequin in turn, "Tactical instincts count for more than tactical skill. You recognized the situation and made the right choice, rather than trying to tangle with the monsters. Same with Bee, instead of trying to jump back in the fight like an idiot hero would." She gives a meaningful glance toward Pleiades, "She bided her time and trusted her teammates to hold things together until she was back at full strength."

Yushio smiles again, "I've have my secretary call your staff to arrange a meeting to discuss our prospective joint venture. But I should not monopolise you for the entire evening."

Bee laughs, "I'm still not back at full strength."

Pleiades snaps her fingers, "Panzerfaust! Load zaubermunition!" Her gauntlet replies, "Jawohl, mein Kameradin!" A chamber on the back of her gauntlet racks and spits out a smoking brasss casing as a runic circle forms beneath her feet. She punches straight downd, "Restoral Wave!" Ripples of blue light spread outward, healing people within 8m.

Dorian smiles slightly at hearing the series of yells before the power goes off. He says to Pleiades, "Is it necessary to announce what you're doing before doing it?"

Ten says, "I always wondered about that..."

Anthony smiles and nods to Yushio. "I look forward to it," he says and then turns to mingle with the rest of the party.

Pleiades rubs her head sheepishly, "Um, well sort of? It helps focus my magic. It's not strictly necessary, but it's good to let your teammates know what you're doing."

Saggitarius sniffs, "I think she just likes shouting."

Lynn Harlan chuckles, covering her mouth.

Dorian smiles. "Well, if it helps focus the magic, that's the important thing."

Bee adds 'ranged gag: web shooter?' to her mental gadget wish list

Pleiades picks up the spent casing and stuff it in her pocket.

Bee smirks and idly comments, "Always police your brass. ... or are they brass?"

Harlequin shakes himself as if shedding water. "What an odd sensation. I wonder if my what I do feels like that?"

Harlequin shakes himself as if shedding water. "What an odd sensation. I wonder if my what I do feels like that?"

Saggitarius shakes her head, "Thaumalchemical alloy."

Lynn Harlan picks up a fork and raps it against her glass, "Oh, I have a small announcement, if I may have your attention."

Bee starts to talk about another case she needs help with, but shushes to listen to Lynn

Ten turns to listen.

Anthony turns to pay attention to Lynn as she starts ringing the glass.

Dorian looks to Lynn to hear the announcement.

Harlequin waits patiently as he thinks. o O (I've always hated it when people do that.)

Lynn Harlan says, "I'm happy to announce that the SDPA has decided to open a small liaison office with Star Guard, to aid in cooperation if any further incidents occur. SDPA Emergency Search and Rescue Service Sergeant Sieglinde Nachtmann, call-sign Pleiades, will be our field officer on Earth, and will be working under an SDPA Space Forces liaison officer."

Bee applaudes politely.

Ten joins the applause.

Bee thinks .oO (How is this different than what she was already doing? Oh well, I guess sometimes you have to make these arrangements 'official'.)

Saggitarius looks a little sad, "Congratulations, Sigi." Pleiades nods, "Thanks, Tee. It'll be tough being assigned apart, but, I'll visit when I can!" Saggitarius hmmphs, "Th-thats fine, it's not like I'd really miss you, or anything."

Harlequin raises a hand to his porcelain lips as he waits.

Dorian claps as well. "Glad to have you aboard officially."

Pleiades salutes, "Thank you, Sir!"

Harlequin quietly asks, "And who will the liaison officer be, Admiral Harlan?"

Lynn Harlan hmmms, "I have a few candidates in mind, though it's not entirely my decision. It won't be Investigator Saggitarius though, we need her elsewhere."

Harlequin murmurs softly, "Ah, well perhaps some sort of travel optin can be reached for the two of them."

Lynn Harlan smiles, "Now that we can operate openly in this system, I'm certain we can arrange something."

Ten grins.

Harlequin adds. "Of course, insulin will need to be produced in greater quantities as well."

Bee blinks behind her goggles, then smiles when she gets the joke.

Saggitarius hisses, "Shut up, you!"

Dorian raises a brow, not really getting it.

Harlequin mimes locking a key on his mouth as he bows and fades away into a blue-silver outline that disappears.