Log:Trouble at TransMat

2019/10/17 Horizon Copycat Quiet Chen Chyoode Rangel Thunder Union

1

In the Alien District...

It's a time of chaos in the city. Sure, they've dealt with imminent destruction in the past, but usually there's some time to adjust. Or none. This is just enough time to freak people out. And some of those people freaking out want off the world. With or without a ticket to do so.

A large group of people, mostly with carry-on bags or backpacks, have gathered outside of TranMat. And by large, that means in the hundreds. Standing at the doors to the business are a small squad of Starguard Kappa guards, perhaps ten in total, armed with non-lethal weaponry. The crowd seems to be pressing forward, against a security barricade, and the guardsmen are trying to keep the crowd calm.

Thunder, while not one to leave the planet or anything, had made his way to the TransMat as it seemed the most likely 'escape route' that others might give or try to take. The young teenage hero was making his way there with the intent to do crowd control as needed. The teenager wasn't about to leave the planet, obviously, but he wasn't sure what he himself could do to stop the moon from falling. The most he had been able to do so far is help on the shore line of the city among other things.

Chen is not the first to admit she's not really suited for space heroics. But sadly it's true and after turning up at Starguard she was made aware of that. So she's helping out where she can on Earth. At this time making her way to TransMat where a SG contingent of Kappa troops have reported unrest. When she finally sees the crowd her thought is that unrest is really far to mild a word. This has all the hallmarks of a riot waiting to happen.

Horizon has found himself also moving towards the TransMat, hoping to help settle things before things escalate into a riot. He of course got word from the Millennium Legion app when an urgent request for assistance came through.

Leaving Earth never even crossed his mind. He's here to keep this world safe and knowing that Nega-Porter is at the center of this he feels compelled to do his part.

He uses his parkour moves to perform super acrobatics along the way- flipping & swinging into a position above the crowd so he can figure out how best to approach the situation.

Union had accompanied her teammate, agreeing with his reasoning that there would be crowds of frightened people there.

Chyoode is annoyed. She likes Earth, and humans. But no sooner is she back than it looks like the Earth might be destroyed! She's on the way to Starguard to see if she can get any more information on the situation, or to be of help in some way, but the throng outside TransMat has distracted her: partly because she's aware there may be trouble and perhaps she can help if so, partly because it's interesting to see how humans react en masse in a desperate situation. Not that she'll ever get to write a thesis about human behaviour if they go and get themselves killed first.

Copycat lands near Starguard, having planned to meet Griffin here in a bit for a crazy plan of hers. She holds off on texting him as she notices the large crowd of people crowding towards the Transmat area. She starts heading that way to check for trouble.

The people in the crowd start shouting at the guards, "You have to let us in!" "Get us off the planet!" "I just want to survive!" The unrest seems to get exacerbated when a well-dressed couple with tickets is let through the security cordon. The increase in teh crowd's animosity is palpable. "Why did you let THEM inside?!"

Quiet has no intentions of sitting around waiting for the bureaucracy to make up its mind... though it is refreshing that such ultimatums do tend to bring out new bipartisanship. In the meantime, there are things to do. Finally. With many flocking to the TransMat to get the hell out of dodge, and liable to step all over each other doing it, she heads there herself to see what can be done. Is it really irony that civillians seem to be the -least- civilized when the alarm sounds?

It's kind of like looting, the rush to Transmat. Rangel starts replacing all of the sharpies with "what do I name these?" and placing "what do I name these?" heads on the blunties. Utterly nonlethal, comically good for this sort of verge of panic situation. May inspire more panic as a result but we will flip that car over when we come to it... She speaks over radio. << "Rangel on site, awaiting nonlethal support fire order." >>

Looking over the crowd, Thunder hums before leaping his way around the edges to where the security personnel are. He tries to get close to them. "Officers!" He calls to them, waving a bit. "Is everything in control, or do you need assistance?"

High above, the feline archer perches, partly attached by Spider-Grips, partly by simple gravity, bow in hand, several arrows adhered to the Spider-Grips, all of them incapable of breaking any bones.

Chyoode records the crowd's behaviour on her PDA, for research purposes, as she passes through its periphery. She shakes her head sadly. One tends to forget how things like a doomed planet can be a problem for primitive peoples with barely and space vehicles...

No sooner is the couple inside TransMat than someone throws a water bottle at hte guards. It takes only a few seconds, but several more items get thrown in short order. One of the guards turns to address Thunder, "We could use..." A sandwich in a plastic bag hits him in the face.

Chen has no doubt of her ability to clear the crowd is short order. If it was only the kind of people that usually turn up for rioting ans looting. But this crowd has family usints in it. Including children that would be at risk if she panicked the crowd into running.

Union stands beside Thunder, waiting for the SGK troops to respond.

Thunder turns to the ground. Then he looks to the SGK. "Cover your ears, please." He looks to make sure he won't potentially hurt anyone before he unleashes his thundering palm towards the crowd. It's the most nonlethal thing he has in his arsenal, after all. And sure to get one hell of an attention.

Copycat gets to the rear of the crowd and hops up to try and look over them, catching throwing going on. "Hey, calm down! You'll all get to the Transmats before anything potentially happens," she tries to squeak over the angry crowd.

Chyoode jumps a few metres into the air for a better view when it sounds like a full riot may be about to spark. She sees that Thunder has a similar idea to her own for crowd control - though she was going to save it till she was sure it was needed.

Seeing an opportunity to show off and to inform the throwers that there is support somewhere up there, Rangel lets loose a "what do I name these?" at one of the bottles as it starts to fly, to halt its forward momentum.

The audible 'thup' is drowned out by the sound of the people shouting, and Rangel stops at that first shot, leaving it as a demonstration. << "Demo warning arrow sent, hit a thrown object, no damage to the object, standing down. Uh... someone very loud looks like they may have done something to the crowd. Might be a junior meta. No apparent injuries. Lots of confused people." >>

Copycat winces and covers her hears as they ring. "IS SOMEONE ATTACKING THE CIVILIANS!?" she asks loudly, unable to hear herself.

Horizon pulls his own PDA out to check in at the location of the emergency via the Millennium Legion app. He puts it back in the hidden pocket of his costume quickly and then works out a way of getting down to ground level so he can safely work his way to a position at or near the door.

He finds a likely enough path along a few light poles and a statue that gets him near enough to interject himself.

He quietly recites what he's going to say after whistling loudly to get everyone's attention, "Everybody let's be calm. We've faced monsters and egotists before threatening the end of the worl---"

This practice is cut short by Thunder's Thundering Palm rolling over the crowd.

He re adjusts his angle of approach to instead intersect with Thunder's current location to help hold the line.

Despite positioning himself to help, he's not enthused considering the fact that a percentage of the crowd will now be deaf to their requests.

"Well that's one way to get their attention- now how do you plan on telling them to return to their homes?" Horizon asks Thunder.

A couple of the closest Starguard Kappa agents manage to cover their ears in time. It turns out to be difficult, since they have weapons in their hands. A couple more close by are deafened. But the cone is mostly aimed at the crowd. The vast majority of the civilians in the area reach for their ears. Some of them cry out. A few around the edges start shouting. At least one screams, "They shot at us!"

Chyoode winces at the sound - and prepare for the likely ensuing panic: she inhales.

Rangel cites Thunder's description in much less casual terms, exact (to her best ability) details that would make identifying him easy.

That was enough of a response for Union. She leaps upward, and climbs onto the ledge above the doors. "STOP!" she calls out to the crowd, "These men are not the enemy! They are Americans like you and I, doing their best to keep anyone from getting hurt. I know that you are frightened. I am frightened too. But we are Americans! We don't run when someone threatens us, We. Fight. Back! Now this man...this COWARD...is trying to take your freedoms away, the freedoms that our forefathers fought and died for! Are we going to let him do that? NO! What will we do? We will find him and we will stop him!

Thunder moves up to call out, "That was not them! I did that! It was to get your attention!" His voice raises, loud and very much showing that he's not afraid. He even moves out into the crowd itself. The young man definitely doesn't look afraid, either.

<< "Second unidentified meta giving a rallying speech." >> Rangel adds Union's description to the known metas in the area.

Chen runs over to stand in front of the line of Kappa troopers. One hand lifts into the air, expands in width and height into a large signboard, upon which the words, "GO HOME" appear.

Quiet flies overhead, albeit not rapidly, towards the Kappa agents with the intent of landing amidst them. Her front is turned towards the crowds, as she expects far less control from them than the agents. She mutters silently, internally, as the needle passes 'Bad' and keeps moving towards 'FUBAR' on the SitRepometer.

Copycat can't hear a darn thing, but she can still see. Given past reports, she thinks they may be doubles working for the villainous Porter. She suddenly blinks out into a dot of green energy and rematerializes next to Horizon, ears still covered. "Are they villains?? Are you a villain? Nevermind, I can't even hear!"

Rangel swears under her breath so the radio doesn't pick it up as Kat makes herself apparent.

Horizon snaps into a fighting position before spotting Copycat and holding his hands up in a non-threatening manner to her. He doesn't recognize her, but being pretty tough gives him the ability to give epople the benefit of the doubt.

"A Vil?!" He asks in surprise shaking his head. "Pure 'Ro" He says slowly, speaking slow so she can make out the words on his lips.

Copycat raises her tiny fists in response as Horizon gets in a fighting position. She looks considerably less mighty, and a bit started. "So are fighting now? Ugh, still can't hear you!" she says loudly, keeping one fist up and pointing to her ears. She's no lipreader.

The crowd does seem cowed. Very, very briefly. A second or two. Those that can hear could likely hear a pin drop.

That's when the crowd starts to surge forward toward the guards.

<< "Situation just went from maybe a problem to riot," >> Rangel reports. She starts taking aim at an outlier, who won't be trampled as a result of the crowd moving << "Any objection to engagement?" >>

Chen clears the incipient battlezone of kids. Rooting her feet into the ground she reaches out with three tentacles to pick up the vulnerable children anf lift them up and out, dropping them behind the line of Kappa troopers.

<< "Good news! I have prepared exclusively non-lethal force!" >> Rangel says over radio at the reply. She resumes picking targets. Kat is on the list but really a last-ditch priority. Just in case. Of soccerball armaments.

Chen gets the children she could see in the crowd clear of what she expects is soon going to be a free fire zone.

Field test of the first "what do I name these" commences! Rangel launches a shot at the most dangerous-looking outlier in the crowd's front line, reducing their overall force a bit so the riot shields can withstand a bit more.

The man struck was just climbing over the barricade, and he immediately collapses when struck.

<< "Minimum four metas on ground level, not counting Rangel," >> Rangel reports. << "Probably support." >> No grudge with Kat. Just wariness.

Quiet is a terrible public speaker, and not solely due to not speaking at all. She may not be able to soothe the crowd directly, but may be able to enable others to do so... and in a way that dos not involve shooting them. Her weapon still stowed, she drops from her hovering flight a few meters overhead to put herself between the agents/TransMat Entrance and the barricades now in danger of being overrun. The gravitics in her suit spin up anew, now warping space abefore her into a sheer wall of forces and counterforces. It may prevent entry (not to mention violence in either direction), but not vision nor sound.

Horizon sighs as things get away from him quickly. He shakes his head and waves his hands negatively. "I don't want to fight you! We're here to stop the riot!" He says, doing his best to pantomime the words he's saying to give them more depth- hoping that will at least get across the fact that they are on the same side.

He looks away as things get deadly quiet and then the crowd surges.

He points to what he's looking at for Kat's sake and then uses his acrobatic skill to backflip & reposition himself to prevent the crowd from pressing their way through the doors or trampling the Kappa troopers.

As he flips and jumps into position he can be heard saying, "Come on- someone is going to get hurt here! Don't you guys see those old Black Friday videos that start trending every year around the holidays?" Despite speaking aloud he is fairly certain the rioters near him won't hear a word of it.

He gasps as an arrow strikes a man in the back of the head but he keeps moving- sliding into place as Quiet & her barrier split the two sides.

Horizon doesn't need to change tactics too much. He moves to one of the open sides to help keep people from pushing through.

Chyoode coughs, in the direction of most rioting. Hard. So hard that that there's a super high-pressure wave followed by a hard vacuum - not pleasant for those unsuited to extreme pressures. But to brief to do permanent damage.

The vast majority of the civilians hit drop like a rock. There are a couple still standing, but looking woozy.

Copycat watches Horizon as he jumps away. "Uhhhh okay, fight and/or team up with you later!" she says loudly, watching him and seeing the civilian go down after getting hit by the arrow. She gasps and teleports past the barrier to the man's side, already shifting into the bigger and much more impressive Sentinel for his medic skills. There's still a bit of nervousness with the crowd so close, but CopySentinel picks up the unconscious man to save him from behing trampled. "Stop attacking the civilians!" he barks, unable to hear the response or tell if there's a massive meta attack making this worse.

Thunder says, "Thunder moves himself to be a moving wall inbetween the crowd and the TransMat barricade. Setting himself up as an active barricade just in case. The young teen makes a motion at them as if to say disperse or go away."

CopySentinel scoops up the unconscious civilian, rising to his full height to see over most of the crowd. Height has its advantages.

The civilians on the side do try to rush the gaps formed. Some of the guards open fire, dropping a couple more civilians. Three try to slip past Copycat, and a couple past Horizon to get toward the doors. One brave but adrenaline-fueled man takes a swing at Thunder. Another takes a swing at Chyoode in the back of the crowd.

The civilian attacking Thunder is easily blocked and knocked over near the barricade.

Rangel finds the barricade a vast convenience, no longer needing to endanger people by trample, coincidentally after GriffKat shouts to the heavens for she, the merciful non-murderous angel of range, to cease doing her best to limit the damage to the situation. It goes unheard, yet no further arrows rain down yet.

Chyoode looks at her attacker. "Hey, mind the dress! And don't hit me, I'm trying to help - people get trampled and junk in riots."

Union moves to the left end of the barrier, to assist in keeping the crowd from breaking through.

One of the civilians tries to slip around the end of the barrier. Union grabs him by the arm, preparing to push him back into the crowd.

Quiet maintains the barrier field for now, though she's well aware that it can't remain powered indefinitely. She directs attention to the edges of the field via handsignals and arm gestures when some rush the flanks, but can do little else at present. Her suit's auxilliaries are pressed with the field, and she can't move much without risking it. Though perhaps she can flatten the arc somewhat in attempt to seal the ends?

Chen has no idea what Quiet is intending so likely her action will change his mind. She extends herself along the full length of the existing barricade touching the TM building at both ends, and then morphs into a tangle of seeming horrific barrier of razor-wire and blades. Taking care that in fact there are no sharp edges.

Horizon agrees with Sentinel and says as much, "He's right! These are just scared people! Let's set a better example!" He shouts to make sure he's heard but doubletakes when he sees who called for a ceasefire on the citizenry.

His eyes go wide as he sees the Colonial Bay Sentinel, here- on the scene with him!

Chyoode climbs on top of the head of the person who attacked her - while somehow putting no pressure on him - for more visibility. "Hey, everyone, settle down, ok? No one wants anyone to get hurt. But rioting doesn't help anyone!"//Flight, must touch surface + PRE attack, I guess. Does SA count?

Chyoode climbs on top of the head of the person who attacked her - while somehow putting no pressure on him - for more visibility. "Hey, everyone, settle down, ok? No one wants anyone to get hurt. But rioting doesn't help anyone!"

CopySentinel rises up in the air until he's hovering three meters up and in sight of everyone. The unconscious man is slung over his left shoulder, his right hand raising up to do the military signs for STOP, followed by FREEZE, and then WATCH ME. "Most of us can't hear now, but for those of us who can: A young heroine just spoke up- a bit off on her timing, but what she said was true enough. We're all Americans here- we live and die as kin or not at all. Survival isn't living- so before anyone gets hurt, ask yourselves 'at what cost? Our Faith in our heroes? The lives of our countrymen? Our children? What is the cost of survival? We've faced the Overlord and his Harbinger. We've faced alien invasions and wild warp fluctuations. What do we have to fear with a spoiled billionaire from another dimension? Lets show them what THIS America is made of! I remember it being far sterner stuff than this! For those who can still hear me and want to help, try to calm those around you and help them understand." Kat isn't home at the moment. She's swept up in the moment.

Thunder stays right where he is, making sure no one gets past him. He calls out, "Listen to the man! You don't have to try to force your way in! Can any of you even operate the TransMat if you go in at all? I seriously doubt it! They are doing the best they can to evacuate! You are not of help to them if you continue to crowd here!"

The crowd seems to lose some steam already. Between the barrier...and the barbed wire that came out of nowhere...and the heroes stopping hte worst possible outcome, things start to calm down. Though it's still at a simmer now, instead of a boil.

CopySentinel thinks. o O (Griffin's so much better at this. I don't know how he does it.)

Horizon hears Griffin trying to talk but its all off. Way too low to be heard over the din of the crowd and the various people shouting. The young hero thinks that the SuperSoldier certain looks like whatever he's saying has him plenty caught up but he suspects that he may be suffering from ringing in the ear or something.

He holds his position. "Everybody is worried- but he's right..." He nods towards Thunder. "Nothing good can come from this! Just more of us hurt and less people getting through the TransMat! Lets let the big guns do their jobs and keep the Earth safe, all we have to do is make sure there's a civilization to come back to, right?"

Slowly people's hearing comes back. That seems to calm things down further.

CopySentinel floats back down to the ground, happy to be out of the spotlight. He looks around for a place to take the unconscious civilian, or for anyone who seems to know him.

Chyoode climbs down from the man - or rather, she walks down him, which looks rather odd.

There definitely seems to be a couple of peopel who were won the fringes of the altercation...that recorded the events. It's likely already on social media someplace.

Chen untangles herself, reverts to Chen, and makes sure the children get reunited with their parents.

The parents are relieved, quite obviously. One of the fathers says, "Thank you. We just...wanted to be safe."

Chyoode helps up the people she knocked out, for their own good. She doesn't mention that she was the one responsible for their unconsciousness, though.

Horizon holds his ground and moves to meet Griffin, one of his heroes. He looks pretty pleased with how most things turned out. A riot with almost no one injured. That's something to be proud of but as he gets closer he finds himself getting super nervous. Moments later a flashback of his usually surefooted self falling off a campus building when he crossed paths with Victory and Lightning.

He stops in his tracks and tries to look like he knows what he's doing and definitely not having a crisis of confidence.

Chen smiles, "I was there when the Overload was taken down. Have faith. This other dimensional guy has NO idea who he's trying to mess with."

Quiet maintains the field as long as necessary, or until her power cells run low, very much hoping that it is the former.

CopySentinel is still holding the man over his shoulder. It's easy when you're super strong. He finally finds a family member coming forward and helps set the man down, revive him, and send him off with his family. He overhears Chen and decides not to make comments on it. That'd scare the people.

CopySentinel eventually notices Horizon again. "So...hero, I take it?" he asks now that he can hear.

Union approaches (Copy)Sentinel. "Mr. Freeman? We've met before - I'm Union. Thunder and I - that's him over there - we're starting a team for teen heroes like us, but we feel we could use guidance from a more...mature, established, hero. Would you be willing to help us?"

Union is visibly nervous. Sentinel is an even greater hero than her idol, Victory.

Thunder is currently busy making sure those hit by his 'attack' are fine. No one went flying, fortunately. He turns to head over towards Union and (Copy)Sentinel as well as Horizon once he's sure of it, though.

CopySentinel looks over to Thunder as Union points him out. "The kid who lit this whole powderkeg?" he asks with a raised brow.

Union says, "I did just say we need guidance..."

Thunder looks to CopySentinel, "I was trying to defuse the situation. Unfortunately, I misjudged. My apologies." He gives a bow, from the waist and definitely showing his Japanese heritage from the manner. "She is correct, though. We are both technically under age and wish to find someone who can teach us."

CopySentinel folds his arms over his chest as he regards Thunder with golden glowing eyes. He takes a deep breath to center his mind, then looks to Union and offers a gentle smile. "I see. Well. Firstly, there's a crisis going on at the moment that takes a bit more precedent. And secondly, you really should ask the real Sentinel," CopySentinel says. A few moments later, he shrinks down and transforms into the much more petit Copycat. "He's already busy mentoring a few heroes on top of rescuing people around the world. I'm not sure he has the time, so I wouldn't want to build up your hopes too much."

Union is surprised, but not completely stunned. "I've seen you before, haven't I? When I met Sentinel."

That has Thunder blinking a few times, then he shakes his head, "I... think this has to be next to the weirdness of Annie and Cypress at this rate." He comments, then shakes his head again. "So... do you have anyone you could recommend to mentor us?" He looks a bit annoyed, however.

Copycat shrugs her shoulders. "Maybe? I'm afraid I don't really remember you, I'm afraid." She looks to Thunder. "You probably did the very thing you shouldn't have in a situation like that. You can't reason with people who can't hear, and something like that is starting and leaves people thinking they're being attacked. Which they kind of were because of what you started..."

Copycat frowns at Thunder's annoyed expression. "If you're not used to shapeshifters, maybe you're in the wrong place?"

Union says, "That sounds like just the guidance of advice we need. Would you be willing to teach us?"

Thunder looks a bit embarassed. "I tried my best, really. But well, that's the most non-lethal I have." He blinks, then looks to Copycat. "Eh, sorry, I just keep expecting things to get really weird whenever full blown shapeshifters are around. Seeing someone split into two different genders was weird enough."

Copycat's eyes widen. "Uh, no. No no no. I had an awful experience during my teenaged heroing days. Just...stay away from tense political situations, don't take on big time supervillains. Keep it small and safe."

Union looks at Thunder, "What?"

Copycat looks a little offended at Thunder's words, thinking he's referring to her gender swap. "Well, that's just close-minded," she mutters in a hurt voice.

Thunder blinks, then looks to Union, then to Copycat. "Uh... not you. And not like you're probably thinking. As in two different bodies, different genders completely. Oh, and another one turned into a tree. I'm not trying to be close minded, but it's just... yeah, that kind of thing freaks you out a bit, you know?"

"I guess I don't," Copycat says quietly. "I've seen a lot of strange stuff since I got started."

Thunder looks considerate, then sighs, "Look, I'm sorry if I seem close minded? I try to be open minded and all... ah... I'll just be going before I stick my foot more in my mouth." He shakes his head, turning to go.

Union says, "Can you at least pass on our request, Ms...?"

"Copycat. Just Copycat," the pink-haired heroine says. "I'll do that. But first I have to help out with the moon crisis. You kids should probably be with your families right now," she suggests, checking her smartwatch. "We're running out of time." Something she has plenty of these days. "Take care." She hurries off to Starguard.